Tennessee baseball edges Mississippi State to get Vanderbilt rematch in SEC Tournament

HOOVER, Ala. − Tennessee baseball will get a rematch with Vanderbilt in the SEC Tournament.

The No. 1 Vols got massive contributions from their bench and bullpen, and Blake Burke slugged a go-ahead solo homer in the eighth for a 6-5 win against No. 5 seed Mississippi State on Friday. Tennessee (48-11) is in the SEC Tournament semifinals for the third time in four seasons.

Tennessee will face Vanderbilt (38-20) on Saturday (approximately 4 p.m. ET, SEC Network). The Commodores beat the Vols 13-4 in UT's first game in the tournament, sending them to the loser's bracket. The Vols are 2-2 against the Commodores this season after winning the regular-season series in Nashville.

Tennessee baseball's Reese Chapman had a pivotal performance

Reese Chapman didn't start Friday, but entered at designated hitter in the fourth. The sophomore worked an eight-pitch, seventh-inning walk to load the bases after falling behind 1-2 in the at-bat.

That walk led to Tony Vitello putting in Cannon Peebles as a pinch-hitter for Cal Stark. Peebles hit a hard grounder to shortstop, but second baseman Amani Larry launched a throw well over first base to allow Dean Curley to score and tie the game 5-5.

Chapman also doubled in the fourth and scored a run. He singled in the ninth.

Tennessee baseball's bullpen shut down Mississippi State

Andrew Behnke was in the middle of dominant relief work for the Vols. The bullpen threw 4⅔ innings and did not allow a run after Aaron Combs let two inherited runners score in the fifth.

Combs struck out four in 2⅓ innings. Behnke struck out two in a scoreless inning. Kirby Connell and Nate Snead combined for a scoreless ninth inning.

PITCHING IN: Chris Stamos' best outing for Tennessee baseball gives Vols reset they needed at SEC Tournament

The fifth inning was unkind to Tennessee baseball

Drew Beam no-hit Mississippi State for 4⅓ innings until Joe Powell hit a seeing-eye single to left.

Beam appeared primed to get out of the inning with two on and two outs, but catcher Stark dropped a foul-tip that would have been an inning-ending strikeout of MSU's Bryce Chance. Beam walked Chance and Mershon before Connor Hujsak hit a two-run single to tie the game 3-3 and end Beam's outing.

Tensions flared between the dugouts during the pitching change as Hujsak, Bulldogs hitting coach Jake Gautreau, Vitello and Christian Moore exchanged words.

Mike Wilson covers University of Tennessee athletics. Email him at michael.wilson@knoxnews.com and follow him on Twitter @ByMikeWilson. If you enjoy Mike’s coverage, consider a digital subscription that will allow you access to all of it.

This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Tennessee baseball edges Mississippi State to advance in SEC Tournament