Tennessee is in desperate need of some late-inning success in Southeastern Conference play, but the Volunteers gladly produced some Tuesday night against the Northern Kentucky Norse.
A disappointing stretch of outcomes for Tennessee was in danger of becoming even worse inside Lindsey Nelson Stadium until the Vols broke a 6-6 tie in the eighth inning with a six-run outburst to claim a 12-6 victory before a crowd of 5,814. Tennessee, which has lost five of its last six contests within the league, improved to 21-12 in Josh Elander’s first spring as coach while dropping the Horizon League’s Norse to 13-18.
“That was really good to see,” Elander said of the decisive eighth. “We did a lot of good things and didn’t try to do too much. We need to be able to put up those four, five and six-spots when we can.”
Former Baylor School standout Henry Ford came to the plate with two out in the eighth inning and the bases loaded in a deadlocked contest. He hit a sharp grounder to shortstop Alex Brazer, who rushed his throw to first that resulted in two unearned runs scoring for an 8-6 Tennessee advantage.
Blake Grimmer’s RBI single to right field made it 9-6, and then Trent Grindlinger launched a three-run home run to right that quickly doubled the score. Grimmer went 3-for-5 at the plate with two homers and four RBIs.