Vols rally in final inning, punch ticket to Hoover

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UT Sports photo

It was an outstanding final weekend of the regular season for the Tennessee baseball team.

Coach Dave Serrano said it best after Saturday’s final game, “I want to know where Al Michaels is, to make that famous quote, ‘Do you believe in miracles?’”

“The synergy that somehow has now crept into this team is unbelievable.”

Trailing 2-0 in the bottom of the ninth inning with the season on the line, the Vols rallied for three runs in their final at bat.

With bases loaded, Andrew Lee singled to the right side, scoring two runs and tying the game. After a Jordan Rodgers walk, Chris Hall hit a walk-off RBI single up the middle and the celebration ensued.

“Obviously, I’m excited about the hit, but we are just so excited as a team to come together through this season and ride the ups and downs we’ve had and finally get to the goal we had and worked so hard for,” Hall said after the game. “It’s almost unbelievable how far we’ve come from the start of the season to right now and getting to go to Hoover. We’re just ecstatic.”

Bret Marks earned the win, allowing only one run on seven hits in seven innings. He struck out five.

It was Tennessee’s first ever sweep of Mississippi State and it couldn’t have come at a better time. Anything less, and the season ends. Instead, the team will make back-to-back conference tournament appearances for the first time since 2004-05.

“I’m just so happy for our guys, I really am,” Serrano said. “They’ve been through a tough time this year. Our expectations were very high, and rightly so. They should have been. We didn’t meet those expectations, but to know at the end of the season that we’re going to the SEC Tournament for the first time in back-to-back years, in I think 10 years, tells me everything I need to know about these guys and the fight they’ve continued to have for this team and each other.”

Tennessee is the No. 12 seed in next week’s SEC Tournament and will face No. 5 seed Arkansas in the late game on Tuesday evening.

Tennessee Baseball Highlights: Mississippi State Game 3 (5/16/15)

Forum discussion: VOLS TO SECs: UT Rallies for 3-2 Win[/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]