KNOXVILLE, Tenn (WATE) — Drew Gilbert hit a towering grand slam to right field leading the Tennessee baseball team to a 9-8 walk-off victory over Wright State in NCAA Regional opener.

No. 4 seed Wright State’s offense lived up to its reputation hitting five homers and scoring eight runs in the loss.

The Raiders got the scoring started in the first inning when Tyler Black hit a two-run homer off Tennessee starting pitcher Chad Dallas.

Dallas had a rough outing getting through just four and third innings and giving up four runs on four hits while striking out five.

The Vols offense got on the board in the 2nd inning when Luc Lipcius hit a solo homer to right center field to pull Tennessee within one.

The Vols took its first lead of the game in the 3rd when Connor Pavolony hit a two-run homer off the right field foul pole to make it a 3-2 game. Two hitters later Max Ferguson hit a solo shot to right. Tennessee added another run in the inning on a Lipcius RBI double to the gap to give the Vols a 5-2 lead after three innings.

Wright State started chipping away at that lead in the 4th on Black’s second solo homer of the game. Alex Alders added a solo homerun in the 5th inning to make it 5-4.

With two runners on in the 7th inning, Quincy Hamilton crushed a homer to left centerfield to give the Raiders the lead for good.

Alders added another solo homer in the 8th for a little insurance.

Lindsey Nelson Stadium exploded in the 9th inning when Gilbert lifted a one out pitch over the right field wall, hitting the light pole nearly halfway up.

Up Next

The Vols will now play Liberty in the winners bracket on Saturday at 6 p.m. at Lindsey Nelson Stadium.