Quite the entertaining day in Tennessee baseball was capped by quite the entertaining game.
Despite the Knoxville Regional’s third-seeded Campbell Camels chasing Southeastern Conference pitcher of the year Chase Dollander out of the winners-bracket contest in the third inning, the top-seeded and top-ranked Volunteers recovered from a 4-0 deficit and earned a 12-7 triumph Saturday night at another packed Lindsey Nelson Stadium.
The Vols took a shaky 8-7 lead into the ninth inning before finally breaking free with Christian Moore’s RBI single up the middle and Cortland Lawson’s three-run home run to right field.
Drew Gilbert’s three-run homer over the scoreboard in right with two out in the fifth inning gave Tennessee its first lead at 6-4. Camels starting pitcher Cade Kuehler shut the Vols out through three innings before yielding seven runs in the fourth and fifth.
“Cade just made a couple of mistakes, and they made him pay,” Campbell coach Justin Haire said on the SEC Network broadcast. “That’s why they’re the No. 1 team in the country.”
Tennessee set its single-season record with a 55th victory and will play Sunday night at 7 in the Knoxville Regional final against the Campbell-Georgia Tech winner, with that elimination game starting at 2.
The Camels, who thumped second-seeded Georgia Tech 15-8 in Friday afternoon’s opening game of the regional, stunned the Lindsey Nelson crowd with a four-run third inning that was highlighted by Jarrod Belbin’s two-run homer to right. They then hit balls past Lawson at short and Jorel Ortega at second to plate two more runs for the four-run bulge.
Dollander was pulled after allowing six hits and two walks and was replaced by Kirby Connell, who worked four innings before turning things over to freshman Chase Burns. Connell’s big blemish was Drake Pierson’s two-run homer in the seventh inning that got the Camels within 7-6.
The two teams would exchange solo homers in the eighth, with Blake Burke connecting for the Vols and Connor Denning for Campbell.
“We didn’t want to take Dollander out of the game, but you get to where he’s almost thrown 35 pitches in one inning,” Vols coach Tony Vitello said. “He’s not going to be the same Dollander in that situation, so Kirb came in and really picked up his teammate.”
Tennessee was a trending topic well before Saturday’s first pitch due to fifth-year senior catcher Evan Russell, who sat out Friday night’s 10-0 blanking of Alabama State and didn’t enter Saturday’s game until the eighth inning. Russell’s father, Jason, revealed on Twitter early Saturday afternoon: “Just to clarify, what he’s been dealing with is anxiety, stress and pressure.”
During Friday night’s coverage of the Stillwater Regional, ESPN analyst Troy Eklund said Russell had failed a drug test. It is believed that Eklund used a message board as his source, given that no credible media outlet reported that any drug test was involved, and Vols athletic director Danny White issued a statement Saturday afternoon.
“Thrilled to update that Evan Russell is feeling better and back with the team,” White said via Twitter. “Sad that over the last 24 hours this young man has had to endure speculation and criticism. In the future, I hope that the media will prioritize the health of our student-athletes over unfounded rumors.”
Eklund, a former Arkansas baseball player who competed for the Razorbacks three years before they joined the Southeastern Conference in 1992, apologized during a broadcast Saturday.
“I would like to take this opportunity to apologize to Tennessee’s Evan Russell and the Volunteer program for inaccurate, unsourced information I used Friday night during the Stillwater Regional,” Eklund said. “It was used in err and should not have been referenced. I regret any hurt or harm that it might have caused.”
Following Eklund’s on-air apology, Jason Russell said via Twitter: “Troy Eklund, your apology is appreciated and accepted. No anger in any form or fashion. God bless!!”
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @DavidSPaschall.