Tennessee storms back to pick up lopsided win over Alabama in SEC Tournament
By Andrew Olson
Published:
Tennessee trailed Alabama midway through Wednesday’s second-round SEC Tournament game, but the Volunteers are moving on with a 9-run victory. UT erased a 6-5 deficit and notched a 15-10 win to eliminate the Crimson Tide and advance to the quarterfinals.
Tony Vitello’s squad led 5-1 after 4 innings, but things changed in the top of the 5th. A costly error led to UA scoring 5 runs (4 unearned) to take a 6-5 lead. Tennessee, however, made sure it didn’t last. The Vols tied it up again with 1 run in the bottom of the 5th, but there was plenty more offense to come.
Tied 6-6 after 5 innings, Tennessee scored the next 9 runs. The Vols put up a 5-spot in the bottom of the 6th to bust it wide open and nearly run-ruled the Crimson Tide with 4 insurance runs in the bottom of the 8th inning.
Alabama rallied in the 9th, but the 9-run deficit was too much to overcome. The Tide managed to add 4 runs, but did not bring the tying runner to the plate before the 3rd out.
The Vols combined for 20 hits. Only one UT hit left the yard. Reese Chapman hit a 2-run homer in the 8th to give him a team-leading 4 RBIs.
Reese Chapman have a day.
— Emilie Rae Cochrane (@EmCochranetv) May 21, 2025
Hits the 2 RBI single that gave the #Vols breathing room, and at his next at-bat, he blasts a two-run homer.
Andrew Fischer with some praise in the dugout for Chapman. pic.twitter.com/K745LBmsT1
On the mound, Vitello used 4 Tennessee pitchers. AJ Russell picked up the win, tossing 3.2 innings in relief. He threw 78 pitches (53 strikes), striking out 5 while only walking 1 and allowing 2 earned runs on 4 hits.
It’s a key win for Tennessee’s NCAA Tournament resume. The Volunteers are solidly in the field of 64, but found their hosting status up in the air after a rough second half of conference play. With the victory, UT improves to 42-15 overall with the No. 12 RPI.
Tennessee advances to the quarterfinals to take on Texas, the regular-season conference champion and No. 1 seed in Hoover.
Andrew writes about sports to fund his love of live music and collection of concert posters. He strongly endorses the Hall of Fame campaign of Fred Taylor.
