KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Tennessee had to dig itself out of an early hole to earn a hard-fought 7-3 win over George Washington on a sunny Saturday afternoon at Lindsey Nelson Stadium.
The Vols (11-0) fell behind 2-0 in the top of the first inning and found themselves trailing 3-0 heading into the bottom of the third before freshman center fielder Drew Gilbert sparked the offense with a solo home run.
Gilbert went 4-for-5 on the day, adding a double and three runs while batting leadoff for the Big Orange. Alerick Soularie and Pete Derkay also had two hits each on the day to chip in offensively.
It was Derkay’s two-run single with the bases loaded in the fifth inning that tied the game at three before Luc Lipcius drove in Soularie with an RBI groundout to give the Vols a 4-3 lead.
Soularie led off the seventh with a solo homer – his second of the year – to give UT a little breathing room.
Redmond Walsh earned his first win of the year after tossing five shutout innings in relief of starter Chase Wallace, who was able to rebound from a rocky start to strike out four batters in four innings of work.
Tyler Hix, Domenic Boselli and Noah Levin all drove in runs for the Colonials (6-4) to give them an early advantage but starting pitcher Justin Solt and the bullpen were unable to contain the Tennessee bats later in the game.
The Vols will go for the series sweep tomorrow afternoon with first pitch slated for 1 p.m. Fans can also watch the game on SEC Network+ and the ESPN app.
Notable
Rally Vols
Entering this weekend’s series, Tennessee had scored first in every game this season and had trailed just once. However, George Washington has jumped out to leads in both games this weekend and the Vols have had to rally for wins. From the fifth inning on, the Big Orange have outscored the Colonials 13-0 in the series.
Gilbert Providing a Spark
In both games this weekend, Gilbert has provided the Vols with a spark offensively. The freshman from Minnesota had a pair of hits and scored two runs – including the game-winning run – in yesterday’s victory and topped that performance with a career day on Saturday.
Gilbert set career highs with four hits and three runs scored. He also hit his first-career home run to get the Vols on the board in the third inning. For the series, Gilbert is batting .750 with six hits and five runs.
Box Score (PDF) | Season Stats (PDF) | VIDEO: Vitello Postgame | VIDEO: Walsh Postgame | VIDEO: Soularie Postgame
-UT Athletics
