Wiltz's relief work saves Vols in 11 innings, 8-4

AUBURN, Ala. - Tennessee first baseman Jeff Lockwood made a big play with his glove and an even bigger one with his bat Saturday against Auburn.

But the biggest moments of the Vols' 8-4, 11-inning win belonged to junior reliever Danny Wiltz.

Wiltz threw a career-long 6 2/3 innings and set a career high with five strikeouts. The right-hander faced 21 batters and gave up just one hit.

"He was phenomenal," UT first-year coach Todd Raleigh said.

Wiltz's outstanding relief effort helped Tennessee bounce back from an early deficit to force extra innings.

"I went out trying to maybe throw two or three good innings to keep us in there, and they stuck with me," Wiltz said of his marathon relief outing. "I felt good. I felt like I kept getting stronger. I just threw a lot of strikes and tried to let my defense take care of me like they always do."

Lockwood, the former standout at Halls High Schools, snapped a 4-4 tie in the 11th with a two-run single off Auburn reliever Bryan Woodall (0-1). P.J. Polk followed with a two-run home run to extend the lead to 8-4.

Wiltz slammed the door in the bottom of the inning.

"After Jeff and P.J. came through there, I knew I just had to come out, throw strikes and let them hit it," Wiltz said.

Auburn led 4-1 when Wiltz entered in the fifth. With the bases loaded and one out, Wiltz (3-0) knew he needed a big play.

"I knew if I keep putting zeroes up on the board, we'd have opportunities to score and get back into the game," he said. "If they'd scored one or two more there early on, it would have looked a little out of reach at 5-0, 6-0."

With one pitch - and a big assist from Lockwood - Wiltz snuffed Auburn's rally and handed the momentum to Tennessee.

Auburn's Brian Fletcher lined Wiltz' first pitch directly into Lockwood's glove. Lockwood alertly tagged first to force out Auburn's Kevin Patterson, who had taken a big lead. The double play ended the inning.

Tennessee (16-8, 5-3 SEC) tied the game in the sixth. Yan Gomes scored on a fielder's choice, and Josh Liles hit a two-run double to tie the game at 4.

From there, the game belonged to Wiltz. Auburn (17-10, 3-5) managed just three base-runners in the final six innings.

Tennessee is 4-0 in extra innings and 8-1 in one-run games.

"That's our team, right there," Raleigh said. "We usually fall behind, somehow, and then we battle back. We're doing a good job with that."

Raleigh was ejected in the eighth for arguing a batter's interference call on Andy Simunic. The call negated an apparent steal off second by Polk.

"I was upset - we had a chance to have a man on second late in a tie game," Raleigh said. "I probably blew a gasket, but that's how I am. It's no big deal - I don't have a vendetta against anybody, obviously."

The series concludes at 3 p.m. today, with Tennessee left-hander Nick Hernandez (0-1, 4.85 ERA) starting against Auburn right-hander Bradley Hendrix (1-0, 3.96).