KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Five home runs and a strong NCAA postseason debut from starting pitcher Blade Tidwell gave No. 3 seed Tennessee a 9-3 victory over Liberty at Lindsey Nelson Stadium on Saturday night.

Liam Spence homered in the first and second innings, while Luc Lipcius launched solo shots in the second and third innings and Drew Gilbert added a solo home run in the third inning as the Vols took a 7-0 lead through the opening three frames.

The Flames couldn’t handle Tidwell’s heat, as the freshman right-handed pitcher recorded three strikeouts, while allowing just four hits and no earned runs through 5.2 innings of work on the mound. Camden Sewell earned the save for Tennessee, allowing just two hits and no runs, while striking out four batters over the final three innings.

Spence went 3-for-5 from the plate with a pair of home runs and four RBIs on the night. Lipcius tied a career high with three runs scored and was 2-for-3 on the night, blasting two solo homers over the wall for a pair of RBI. Gilbert launched a home run to center field in the third inning, his second homer in as many days. He slo scored two runs and drew a walk.

In the first inning, Spence blasted a leadoff home run to right field to start the night for the Vols. Another solo shot, this time by Lipcius in the top of the second inning, gave Tennessee an early 2-0 lead.

Spence homered to left center in the second inning, his second of the game, to score Pete Derkay and Connor Pavolony and give the Big Orange a 5-0 lead.

Gilbert, following his walk-off grand slam on Friday night against Wright State, sent a solo blast off the batter’s eye in the third inning. Just two at bats later, Lipcius’ second home run of the day cleared the batter’s eye in center field. It was his 15th long ball of the year, giving him the team lead.

Tennessee’s five home runs through the first three innings marked its most in a NCAA Tournament game in program history, besting the previous mark of four against Stanford in the 1995 College World Series. Each team went scoreless in the fourth and fifth innings before two UT errors in the bottom of the sixth allowed Liberty to tally three unearned runs to break up the shutout.

Facing a 7-3 deficit with runners on first and second in the seventh, Sewell recorded a strikeout and then got Liberty’s Trey McDyre to ground into a 6-4-3 double play to end the inning and get the Vols out of the jam.

The Vols added to their lead in the top of the eighth, as Derkay’s two RBI single to right field scored Gilbert and Lipcius, increasing UT’s lead back to six.

With the win, Tennessee advances to Sunday’s regional final and will play the winner of Sunday’s elimination game between Duke and Liberty at 2 p.m. The second game of the day is scheduled for a 6 p.m. start and the Vols would advance to the NCAA Super Regional with a win.

NOTABLE 

DADDY HAT OUT EARLY AND OFTEN: With five home runs in Saturday’s win over Liberty, Tennessee set a new NCAA Tournament program record for home runs in a game. The previous record of four homers was set on June 6, 1995, in a College World Series matchup against Stanford.

Collectively, the Vols have racked up 91 home runs on the season, the second most in a single season in program history.

CLUTCH HITTING: In Saturday’s win, six of Tennessee’s nine runs were scored with two outs. The Vols finished with four two-out hits on the night.

GOING, GOING, GONE – REPEAT: Spence and Lipcius, each with two home runs, became the second and third players in program history to hit two homers in a single NCAA Tournament game, tying Scott Schroeffel’s pair of home runs versus Stanford on June 6, 1995.

Box Score (PDF) | Knoxville Regional Central

-UT Athletics

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Drew Gilbert’s walk-off grand slam lifted No. 2 Tennessee to a dramatic come-from-behind, 9-8, victory over Wright State Friday night at Lindsey Nelson Stadium.

Trailing 8-5 entering the bottom of the ninth inning, the third-seeded Vols offense got a kickstart by way of a leadoff single from Connor Pavolony. After Max Ferguson singled to left center field and Jake Rucker walked, Gilbert came up with the bases loaded and crushed the second pitch of the at bat over the bullpen in right field to send the sellout crowd into a frenzy.

Entering the ninth inning, Tennessee had not scored since the third and had recorded just three hits over the previous five innings.

Pavolony led the Vols with three hits on the night—including a home run—while Gilbert, Ferguson and Luc Lipcius also homered and had two hits apiece.

Redmond Walsh earned the win for the Vols after coming on in relief and tossing a scoreless top half of the night’s final inning. Chad Dallas got the start on the mound for the Vols, throwing 4.1 innings and striking out five batters.

After Tennessee jumped out to a 5-2 lead through the opening three innings of the game, Wright State gradually chipped away before eventually breaking through with a three-run seventh inning. The Raiders went on to tack on one more in the eighth inning to push their lead to three at 8-5.

All eight of Wright State’s runs on the evening were driven in by home runs, as they finsihed with five. The Vols hit four homers of their own, marking the sixth time they have hit four or more in a game this season, as the two teams combined for nine total long balls on the night.

Wright State took a lead right out of the gates in the first inning, as Tyler Black hit a two-run homer just over the right-field wall, his first of two in the game.

Tennessee quickly responded with a solo home run in the bottom of the second inning from Lipcius before exploding for four runs in third—powered by home runs from Pavolony and Ferguson. Lipcius closed out the third inning by driving in his second run of the day with a double off the left-field wall, allowing Gilbert to cruise in from third base.

After the Tennessee’s productive start to the evening, the Vols were held in check offensively for the rest of the night until the four-run ninth inning.

With the win, the Vols enter the winner’s bracket and will play Saturday at 6 p.m. against Liberty, who defeated Duke on Friday afternoon, 11-6.

NOTABLE

WALKING IT OFF: Gilbert’s grand slam in the bottom of the ninth marked Tennessee’s seventh walk-off win of the season. It marks Gilbert’s second walk-off of the season after he previously hit a walk-off solo homer against LSU on March 28. After not hitting a walk-off homer since 2010, the Vols have hit four this season. Gilbert’s walk-off blast tonight was his first home runs since hitting that game-winner against the Tigers.

ANOTHER GRAND SLAM: Gilbert’s walk-off also marked the Vols’ sixth grand slam of the season. Gilbert and Jake Rucker have two apiece, while Evan Russell and Liam Spence also have one this season.

HOT START AT NCAAs: With the win, Tennessee improved to 8-3 all-time in NCAA Tournament openers. Friday, however, was the first time that Tennessee opened NCAA play with a victory since 2005.

Box Score (PDF)  Knoxville Regional Central 

-UT Athletics