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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 campaigns of Fred Taylor and Andruw Jones.
