No. 1 Tennessee baseball rallies to beat Vanderbilt, win eighth straight vs. Commodores
NASHVILLE — Kavares Tears watched.
The Tennessee baseball outfielder watched a fastball zip up and in toward his head. He watched a breaking ball do the same. Then Tears swung and watched the ball rise and keep rising until it cleared the left-field wall at Vanderbilt's Hawkins Field and landed on top of neighboring Memorial Gymnasium.
Tears raised his right arm, a deficit flipped to a lead and No. 1 Tennessee (41-9, 18-7 SEC) on its way to a five-run eighth inning and its eighth straight win against the Commodores (33-17, 11-14). The Vols conquered Vanderbilt 8-4 in the series opener Friday.
"I think this team has its own kind of flavor or brand to it," Vols coach Tony Vitello said. "They seem to forge ahead. It hasn’t always gone our way. But regardless of circumstances, you’d like your team to continue to compete."
The eight-game winning streak is Tennessee's longest since it won eight in a row (1993-94).
The Vols and Commodores play the second game of the series Saturday (3 p.m. ET, SEC Network).
How Tennessee baseball came back to beat Vanderbilt
The Vols trailed 4-3 entering the eighth, which Billy Amick started with a full-count single to right. Tears fouled the first pitch off against Vanderbilt reliever Miller Green before two straight sailed up and in.
"I felt like they were setting that up for something," Tears said. "I started to sit on a slider and I wanted to stick with it and not get too big. Just put a good swing on it."
Tears sat an outside pitch and got it. He bashed the next breaking ball for a two-run homer, a year after he started UT's comeback against Vanderbilt with a pinch-hit homer.
The Vols piled on. Dylan Dreiling, who had two RBI hits, tripled to center. Hunter Ensley drove in Dreiling. Cannon Peebles pummeled a two-run homer to right for an 8-4 lead.
"That just is team chemistry," Tears said of the comeback. "That is kind of how I view it. We are a very close-knit group of guys that I have played with for a very long time. No matter what the score is or if we are behind, we never think we are out of a game until that last out is made."
Vanderbilt took a sixth-inning lead on the Vols
AJ Causey struck out Davis Diaz and Alan Espinal to start the sixth inning. He got Camden Kozeal into a 1-2 count then thought he struck out Kozeal and started to walk off the mound. Home plate umpire Michael Banks was not satisfied with the pitch.
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Causey walked Kozeal. Colin Barczi singled to center. Matthew Polk doubled to left to score Kozeal and put two in scoring position. Jacob Humphrey singled both in on an 0-2 pitch to put the Commodores ahead 4-3.
Causey settled in after the rough patch. He struck out seven in 6⅓ innings, allowing three runs on five hits and a walk.
Mike Wilson covers University of Tennessee athletics. Email him at michael.wilson@knoxnews.com and follow him on Twitter @ByMikeWilson. If you enjoy Mike’s coverage, consider a digital subscription that will allow you access to all of it.
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: No. 1 Tennessee baseball scores five in eighth to beat Vanderbilt
