KNOXVILLE - The ball came off Andre Lipcius' bat and seemed to hang above right field, illuminated by the lights at Lindsey Nelson Stadium.
Justin Ammons stood near third base and gave a quick glance to Tennessee third base coach Larry Simcox, who had a decision to make.
"I looked at coach," Ammons said, "and I was like, 'am I going?' And he said yeah."
Tennessee's speedy freshman outfielder obeyed.
Ammons returned to third base and crouched like a sprinter. When the ball was caught, he scurried home, sliding in safely, just in front of the throw from right field.
The Volunteers' dugout reacted by emptying onto the field to celebrate a 5-4, 10-inning win over No. 10 Auburn on Friday night that evened the teams' series at a game apiece.
"When you get in situations like we put ourselves in, you've kind of got to roll the dice in some situations," Tennessee coach Dave Serrano said after the game, discussing the decision to send Ammons home on what turned out to be the game-winning sacrifice fly.
The Vols (18-14, 4-10 SEC) fell behind by three runs early, a night after a ninth-inning rally fell one run short against the Tigers (26-11, 9-5).
At risk of losing the series, Tennessee rallied once again Friday.
This time, they found enough pop - and patience - to finish the job.
Tennessee scored two in the seventh and tied it in the eighth, when a Matt Waldren sacrifice fly scored Jordan Rodgers.
A 2.1 inning lockdown relief effort from Jon Lipinski carried the Vols to extra innings, where they notched their third 10-inning conference win in their last five SEC games.
Ammons led off the tenth with a two-strike single up the middle. Rodgers and Benito Santiago followed with consecutive walks to load the bases with no outs.
Lipcius came to the plate and lifted the second pitch of his at-bat against Auburn reliever Corey Herndon just far enough.
"I didn't think I was going to get sent at all, since they were playing so shallow," Ammons said.
Sometimes you've got to roll the dice, though.
"You need to force the guy to make the play," Serrano said. "We wanted to win the game, and it was an intelligent decision that worked out our way."
Contact staff writer David Cobb at dcobb@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6249.