SEC Tournament: Tennessee outlasts Mississippi State to advance to semis

Tennessee built a 3-0 lead Friday night against Mississippi State, saw it evaporate in the fifth inning, and then battled back late to earn a 6-5 win and a spot in the SEC Tournament semifinals.

For the Volunteers (48-11), the victory ensured a spot among the final 4 teams in Hoover for the third time in the last 4 years. After surrendering 5 runs in the fifth, UT plated 2 in the seventh to tie the game at 5-5 before Blake Burke delivered a game-winning solo home run in the eighth.

Drew Beam drew the start on the mound for Tennessee and through the first 4 innings he was leaving Mississippi State batters dazed and confused in the box. A fielding error produced a base runner in the second and an errant pitch produced another in the fourth, but Beam was working on a no-hitter through the first 4 frames.

UT provided runs in the tops of the third, fourth, and fifth frames to take the lead.

But Beam ran aground in the fifth, when tensions flared and Mississippi State jumped on top of the Vols.

Amani Larry was hit by a pitch to produce a leadoff baserunner. Joe Powell smacked a 1-out single to put runners on first and second. Then a marathon at-bat from Nate Chester ended with a walk to load the bases. Beam walked the next batter he faced to score 1 Bulldog before Connor Hujsak singled up the middle to score 2 more.

Throughout, tempers boiled. UT catcher Cal Stark dropped a tipped foul ball that would have ended the inning with no damage. Home-plate umpire Clint Fagan then drew the ire of the UT dugout after calling a ball on a potential third strike that would have ended the inning.

“From my vantage point, which was my vantage point, we thought we were out of the inning a couple times,” coach Tony Vitello said after the game. “I haven’t seen the video where you actually have a better perspective, but from our dugout, we thought we were out of the inning a couple times.”

A check-swing call on the ensuing at-bat caused a bit of an uproar from Mississippi State.

Then, after Hujsak tied the game at 3-3, Vitello went to remove Beam and things escalated. Hujsak appeared to saw something in the direction of the mound. Vitello responded as the first-base umpire shouted to the Mississippi State dugout. MSU hitting coach Jake Gautreau had to be restrained by pitcher Stone Simmons. Stark and Christian Moore got involved.

Tensions flare.

Looks like Tony Vitello and Jake Gautreau were jawing at each other. pic.twitter.com/pDJw9xiY9B

— Stefan Krajisnik (@skrajisnik3) May 25, 2024

After the game, Vitello said he was upset by MSU players shouting his name directly.

“Maybe I brought it on myself, but I didn’t say anything to anybody,” Vitello said. “Just not used to that. I mean, if our players are yelling out Dave to the Coach Van Horn in any form or fashion, we got a problem. So that’s just me. And, again, maybe I bring it on myself. So I reacted and then they reacted, and then after that, to me, the umpires did whatever they needed to do to handle it.”

Added MSU coach Chris Lemonis: “Just talking back and forth and probably got out of control. I was actually underneath. I came out late. I didn’t even see the initial stuff happening.”

Afterward, the sides were cordial, Vitello said. MSU outfielder Dakota Jordan was joking with the UT dugout before cracking a 2-RBI single through the left side to give MSU a 5-3 lead. Aaron Combs, who replaced Beam, ended the inning with a strikeout.

Combs gave up a leadoff double in the bottom of the sixth, but sat down the next 3 batters faced for a far less dramatic frame.

Between Combs, Andrew Behnke, Kirby Connell, and Nate Snead, MSU didn’t register a hit the rest of the way. After the sixth-inning double, UT pitchers retired 11 of the next 13 batters they faced.

Tennessee tied the game in the top of the seventh after loading the bases with one out. Pinch hitter Cannon Peebles’ RBI fielder’s choice scored Hunter Ensley from third before Larry’s throw to try and double up Peebles sailed into the netting over UT’s dugout, allowing Dean Curley to score and tie the game at 5-all.

Burke led off the eighth with his 17th homer of the year, blasting a 1-1 pitch 392 feet over the right-center field wall to put the Vols back on top.

The Big Orange (48-11) were able to scratch across a pair of runs to tie the game in the top of the seventh after loading the bases with one out. Pinch hitter Cannon Peebles’ RBI fielder’s choice scored Hunter Ensley from third before second baseman Armani Larry’s throw to try and double up Peebles sailed into the netting over UT’s dugout, allowing Dean Curley to score on the play, as well, and tie the game at five.

Burke led off the eighth with his 17th homer of the year, blasting a 1-1 pitch 392 feet over the right-center field wall to put the Vols back in front.

“I remember looking at the scouting report before going up there trying to hunt a fastball, and I got it, and I took my best swing and that was the result,” Burke said.

Behnke struck out 2 in the bottom of the eighth. Connell and Snead closed out the ninth with a pop-up and a pair of groundouts. Snead registered his fifth save of the season while Combs earned his second win.

Burke went 3-for-3 with 2 runs scored, an RBI, a home run, and 2 walks in 7 plate appearances.

“That was an emotional game,” Vitello said. “But I just don’t see how it’s a bad thing for either team to be involved in a game where everybody’s hooting and hollering. I don’t know what triggered it, but the one thing was the crowd was loud, I know that. So, to me, that’s really good experience.

“Now you’ve got to calm down and you’ve got to play baseball. To me, I may be wrong, but the last three innings were just good baseball, and we were fortunate that something happened in our favor. It certainly could have gone the other way as well.”

Tennessee is set to face 8-seed Vanderbilt in the second semifinal game on Saturday. That game is tentatively scheduled to start at 4:30 p.m. ET on SEC Network. The Vols are -205 on the moneyline for the game, via FanDuel.

Derek Peterson

Derek Peterson does a bit of everything, not unlike Taysom Hill. He has covered Oklahoma, Nebraska, the Pac-12, and now delivers CFB-wide content.