The idea of three walk-offs in a row in an SEC series is unheard of for multiple reasons.
Three straight games. Tied in the bottom half of the final innings. High-level competition. The chances of runners in scoring position. A calculator isn’t needed to know the low probability.
Vanderbilt accomplished this feat somehow, sweeping No. 21 Tennessee on three walk-off wins at home, capped by pinch hitter Tommy Goodin’s grand slam in the series finale, 16-15. It’s the Commodores' seventh walk-off win in their last 10 SEC home games.
Friday was the opposite of a high-scoring battle — tied 2-2 entering extras. Vanderbilt scored one run in the third and fifth, while the Volunteers notched a single run in the sixth and eighth. After Tennessee stranded runners on second and third at the top of the 10th, Commodores right fielder Logan Johnstone took advantage of the missed opportunity, walking it off in the bottom half with a single to left field.
It was the graduate student's second of the month — 13 days after a two-run homer versus then-No. 13 LSU.
WALK-OFF WINNERS does it again!
— Vanderbilt Baseball (@VandyBoys)
Neither team gave the other an inch of separation in Game 2. Each erupted with a five-run inning by or before the sixth and was decided for 10 more innings.
Tennessee outpaced Vanderbilt in runners on base, 7-1, between the 10th and 15th, but had nothing to show for it, not crossing the plate once. They worked a runner into scoring position in the 13th, 14th, 15th and 16th.
The Commodores’ offense came back to life in the bottom half of the 16th, putting three straight runners on base with one out, and catcher Mack Whitcomb sending fans home happy on a walk-off bunt.
BALLGAME!
— Vanderbilt Baseball (@VandyBoys)
VandyBoys win it in the 16th!
The series finale was filled with the most celebratory cheers and Gatorade showers — if there was enough left to give out.
Quality pitching ran thin on Sunday for both sides, with the bats sitting in the driver’s seat. The Volunteers led 12-10 by the sixth inning and added three more in the ninth. It seemed like Tennessee would escape Nashville with some momentum.
But the magic hadn’t died out in Hawkins Field yet. Whitcomb stayed hot, dropping a two-RBI single into shallow left field to cut the deficit to three. Two batters later, coach Tim Corbin called Goodin’s number, and he delivered.
The sophomore blasted his seventh home run of the season to left center on a 1-0 count, completing the sweep and making it unthinkable for Vanderbilt. Racing around the infield both games to catch up to the walk-off winner following their at-bats, Vandy finally celebrated at home plate with an enthusiastic Goodin.
It marks the Commodores’ first series sweep over Tennessee since 2013.
ARE YOU SERIOUS?!
— Vanderbilt Baseball (@VandyBoys)
Walk-off slam for the sweep!
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