Merritt, Burns shine late as Vols stun Vandy
Two Tennessee Volunteers who had lost their starting roles proved to be the difference Friday night in a 4- 3 comeback win over No. 4 Vanderbilt that lasted 12 innings at Lindsey Nelson Stadium.
Griffin Merritt’s home run to right field that led off the 12th resulted in Vols players rushing out of the dugout for their biggest celebration of an erratic season, and it gave a much-needed triumph to pitcher Chase Burns. Having been bumped from the weekend rotation earlier this month, Burns faced the minimum batters during the three extra innings and retired seven of the nine by strikeout.
Merritt, who was the American Athletic Conference player of the year last season at Cincinnati after hitting .315, entered Friday’s series opener hitting .268 and was no longer a starter. He pinch-hit for Christian Scott before replacing him in right field, where he made a key throw in the 11th inning to prevent the Commodores from a leadoff double.
“This is what it’s all about,” Merritt said afterward on the SEC Network broadcast. “My personal stuff is my personal stuff. It’s about this team, and this team needed this win. I was just happy I could play a part in that.”
Tennessee improved to 24-14 overall and to just 6-10 in Southeastern Conference play, while Vanderbilt dropped to 29-9 and 13-3.
The Vols entered the bottom of the ninth trailing 3-1 and with just two hits, but quickly pulled within a run on a Kavares Tears leadoff homer to center. Dylan Dreiling then provided the most dramatic at-bat of Tennessee’s season moments later, as his two-out, two-strike homer to rightcenter produced a 3-3 tie and sent the game into extra innings.
“I don’t know how you don’t enjoy that,” Tennessee coach Tony Vitello said in a news conference.
“I know that either team could have come out on the short end, but that right there is what it’s all about — if I can use that cliche.”
Tears, Dreiling and Merritt homered off Commodores reliever Nick Maldonado, which represented three of Tennessee’s six hits on the night.
Former Cleveland High standout Camden Sewell helped keep the Vols within striking range in the late innings, as the Vols reliever retired seven of the nine batters he faced, allowing one hit and one walk. His walk occurred in the first atbat of the 10th inning, and he was replaced by Burns, who struck out all three batters he faced in that frame.
Andrew Lindsey made his second start of the season for the Vols and tallied 10 strikeouts in nearly seven full innings.
Zane Denton’s homer to left-center in the second inning put Tennessee up 1- 0, but the Commodores went ahead in the third on RJ Schreck’s two- out single to right that scored Jonathan Vastine and Matthew Polk. Vanderbilt increased its advantage to 3-1 in the fifth when Polk hit a leadoff double down the left-field line and then scored on a ground out.
The Vols and Commodores will vie again Saturday at noon on ESPN2.
“This is a fire starter,” Lindsey said. “It’s what you need this time of year. We’ve been knocking on the door all season, and it came together tonight.
“We need to keep creating big games. It’s what we live for here.”
McNeill in portal
Redshirt sophomore defensive end Amari McNeill became Tennessee’s first football player to enter the NCAA transfer portal during the spring window that started last Saturday and runs through April 30.
Th e 6-foot-4, 285- pounder from the Atlanta suburb of Suwanee collected three tackles in six games last season. His six appearances came against Akron, Ball State, Missouri, UT Martin and Vandy during the regular season and versus Clemson in the Orange Bowl, when he tallied 17 snaps.
Walk- on punter Kolby Morgan also entered the portal Friday.
Heard commits
Tennessee picked up its 10th football commitment for the 2024 signing cycle on Friday, receiving a nonbinding pledge from 6- 7, 295- pound defensive lineman Jeremias Heard out of Model High in Rome, Georgia. Heard, who received the scholarship offer in December and attended last Saturday’s Orange & White game, is the nation’s No. 96 defensive lineman and the No. 1,008 prospect overall according to the 247Sports.com composite rankings.
The Vols are No. 8 in the 247Sports team rankings.
Knecht makes three
Northern Colorado 6- 6 guard Dalton Knecht on Friday became the third transfer this week to commit to Tennessee’s basketball program.
Knecht averaged 20.2 points and 7.2 rebounds this past season, which was his second at Northern Colorado after spending two years at Northeastern Junior College in Sterling, Colorado. He will have just one season with the Vols.
USC Up state 6- 4 guard Jordan Gainey and Harvard 6- 6 guard/ forward Chris Ledlum committed to Tennessee earlier this week.