Nate Snead screamed into his glove, the frustration of 17 innings of mostly rough play from Tennessee baseball bubbling over.
Ole Miss stole the lead from the Vols in the eighth inning on a Snead wild pitch, which followed UT's sixth error in two games. The reliever retreated to the dugout and a deflating defeat awaited the Vols.
Reese Chapman salved the misery, sitting back on a breaking ball and bashing a two-run home run to send No. 4 Tennessee to a 10-8 win and a series win against No. 7 Ole Miss at Swayze Field.
“Just kind of gritted and gutted our way through the whole thing," Vols coach Tony Vitello said.
Tennessee (31-5, 11-4 SEC) won the opener 3-2 behind a 14-strikeout start from Liam Doyle against his old team. Ole Miss (27-9, 9-6) won 8-5 on Saturday.
Sunday looked much like Saturday, as Tennessee struggled to hit with runners on and the fielding was woeful. But the Vols came back from three one-run deficits to avoid losing a second straight series with a trait Vitello thought they didn't have against Texas A&M.
“Just with what we were lacking last Saturday, with grit," Vitello said. "It didn’t even make any sense.”
The plays Tennessee made to take a series win at Ole Miss
Brayden Krenzel had two runners on and a 3-1 count in the fifth inning against Ole Miss three-hole hitter Ryan Moerman. The freshman fought back and got a strikeout to end the inning and keep UT within a run.
Cannon Peebles flipped the score in the sixth with a two-run homer. Gavin Kilen legged out a two-out, RBI infield single to help the Vols score five in the sixth. UT was 4-for-6 with runners on base in the sixth after going 0-for-7 in the first five innings.
Peebles also threw out a runner stealing after a one-out single in the eighth after Ole Miss stole eight bases Saturday. Dalton Bargo had an outfield assist to end the third after Krenzel came in to relieve starter Tegan Kuhns. Bargo led off the ninth with a four-pitch walk to set up Chapman's homer.
