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Tennessee baseball rides clutch grand slam from Levi Clark to win over Samford
By Paul Harvey
Published:
Tennessee baseball found itself in a tooth-and-nail battle with Samford on Saturday and even fell behind late in the game. Fortunately, the Vols rallied with the clutch plays to come out on top, moving to 6-0 on the young season.
After Samford grabbed a 2-0 lead, Tennessee responded and eventually tied the game in the bottom of the 6th on a solo home run from Dalton Bargo. However, that tie was shortlived with Samford pushing a run across in the 7th to take a 3-2 lead.
The Vols answered again in the bottom of the frame for the 3-all tie, but the game-changing moment came off the bat of Levi Clark. With the bases loaded and 1 out, Clark stepped to the plate as a pinch hitter for Ariel Antigua.
Clark worked the count to 3-1 in his favor, and then he ignited the home crowd at Lindsey Nelson Stadium. He blasted a clean home run out of left field for a grand slam, breaking the game open for Tennessee to escape with a 7-3 win.
The home run was clocked at 107 MPH off the bat and was projected at 410 feet. It is Clark’s 2nd home run of the season and keeps No. 4 Tennessee rolling right along.
The Vols were not the only SEC team to struggle this weekend, though things did not work out quite as well for LSU. The No. 3 Tigers were upset by Omaha for their first loss of the young season.
Tony Vitello’s program will look to keep the wins coming, and Tennessee is focused on returning to the College World Series to try and defend their title.
Paul Harvey lives in Atlanta and covers SEC football.
