Levi Clark has packed a lot of memories into his short time at Tennessee, but Saturday afternoon could be hard to top.
The freshman from Walton High School in Marietta, Georgia, launched an eighth-inning grand slam into the left-field porches to catapult the No. 2 Volunteers to a 7-3 triumph over Samford before a crowd of 5,106 inside Lindsey Nelson Stadium. Clark had the advantage of working Bulldogs pitcher Joseph Lee to a 3-1 count, but he had spent the entire contest riding the bench until Tennessee coach Tony Vitello needed him in a pinch-hit role.
“The pressure was on the pitcher in that situation, and Levi looked like he had a simple approach there,” Vitello said afterward in a news conference. “He’s so strong and talented, and he works hard, too. It ended up being an explosive cap on the game.”
The Vols improved to 6-0, while the Southern Conference’s Bulldogs fell to 3-3.
Clark has appeared in five of Tennessee’s games and leads the team with his .500 batting average. The 6-foot-1, 211-pounder is 6-of-12 so far with two doubles, two home runs and an eye-popping 12 RBIs, and the former Perfect Game first-team All-American was asked Saturday why he picked the Vols over a professional route.