KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Jared Dickey’s walk-off sacrifice fly in the bottom of the ninth capped a wild back-and-forth affair between No. 11/12 Tennessee and No. 12/21 Texas A&M, propelling the Big Orange to a 8-7 series-clinching victory on Saturday afternoon at Lindsey Nelson Stadium.
Dickey came up big time after time, finishing the day 3-for-4 with two RBIs, including a triple in the bottom of the seventh that scored Hunter Ensley and cut the deficit to one. Dickey scampered home to tie the game a few pitches later on a wild pitch to tie the game at seven.
Christian Moore also had another productive day at the plate, sparking the Vols with his hitting and heads up base running. The Brooklyn, New York, native went 2-for-3 with an RBI and a pair of runs, including the game-winning run in the ninth.
After surrendering a two-run homer in the top of the first, Chase Burns was lights out for the next four-plus innings before running into trouble with two outs in the top of the sixth. The sophomore retired 12 straight batters before giving up four runs (three earned) with two outs in the sixth. Burns finished with eight strikeouts in 5.2 innings pitched on the afternoon.
Andrew Lindsey had his best outing as a Volunteer to keep UT within striking distance. The junior righty didn’t allow a hit over 2.1 scoreless innings of relief while striking out four Aggies before making way for Camden Sewell with a runner on first and one out in the top of the ninth. Sewell did his job to perfection by getting Austin Bost to ground into a 5-4-3 double play to end the threat and set the stage for the Vols’ walk-off win.
Moore started the bottom of the ninth with a leadoff walk and advanced to second on a wild pitch before moving to third on a ground out by Blake Burke. Following an intentional walk to Ensley, Dickey smacked a 1-0 fastball right into a howling wind, but still plenty deep enough for Moore to tag and score from third to win the game.
Texas A&M reliever Will Johnston didn’t allow a hit but walked four batters in two innings before giving up the game-winning run and was stuck with the loss.
Jack Moss led the Aggies (15-8, 1-4 SEC) at the dish with three hits, two runs and three RBIs, including a two-run homer to open the scoring in the first inning.
UP NEXT: Tennessee (18-6, 2-3 SEC) will look to finish the series sweep on Sunday afternoon. First pitch is slated for 1 p.m. and the game will be televised live on ESPN.
-UT Athletics
