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Maxwell's majestic slam sends Razorbacks to Omaha at Vols' expense

Originally posted on Arkansas Razorbacks on SI
By Daniel Shi | Last updated Jun 8, 2025 7:08 PM ET

It’s just 320 feet down the left field line at Baum-Walker Stadium before you reach the visitor’s bullpen.

For the second day in a row, Tennessee has watched their Omaha chances wither away at the hands of a high-arcing homer into their bullpen as Logan Maxwell’s 330-foot grand slam carried Arkansas to an 11-4 win over Tennessee to punch their ticket to Omaha for the first time since 2022.

With his team trailing 2-1, Tennessee coach Tony Vitello opted to pull SEC Pitcher of the Year and Golden Spikes Award finalist in favor of true freshman Brayden Krenzel to face Wehiwa Aloy.

With runners on second and third and two outs, Vitello had no interest in allowing Doyle to face Charles Davalan again after he reached against the ace the first two times on a hit by pitch and a 2-run line shot homer.

The move instantly backfired. Catcher Cannon Peebles couldn’t find a ball in the dirt, allowing a run to come home. Vitello went right back to the bullpen for AJ Russell.

Russell got ahead 0-2 and just missed on strike three. The next pitch, Maxwell sent a 97-mile-an-hour fastball down the left field line just over the outstretched glove of left fielder Dalton Bargo.

FIRST CAREER GRAND SLAM FOR LOGAN MAXWELL @RazorbackBSB pic.twitter.com/s4ybZT6qYT
— SEC Network (@SECNetwork) June 8, 2025

It was Maxwell's 13th homer of the year and his first grand slam in his four-year college career.

It was the dagger for a Tennessee offense that could never get anything going against a Razorback pitching staff that limited traffic except for one inning.

Tennessee led off the third inning with three straight singles from the 8-9-1 spots in the lineup to load the bases against starter Gage Wood. Wood just needed three pitches to get out of the inning with despite facing the heart of the order.

First baseman Andrew Fischer and his SEC-leading 25 homers, grounded into a routine 4-6-3 DP to force home a run, but limited the damage for the Hogs. Two pitches later Hunter Ensley flew out to center.

Tennessee had more chances against Wood but struggled to do anything in plus counts. Wood threw just 26 of his 48 pitches for strikes, but Tennesee was just 1-for-6 on balls put in play in advantage counts.

With a six-run cushion, Van Horn opted to pull Wood after just 3 ⅓ innings of work without a strikeout.

Arkansas got a trio of insurance runs thanks to an RBI single from Kuhio Aloy, his first since the SEC Tournament two weeks ago. Brandon Arvidson donated two more runs on a pair of bases-loaded walks.

Cole Gibler continued his torrid strikeout rate with four more in 2 ⅔ innings of work. He now has 53 punchouts in 27 ⅔ innings. He also got credit for the win.

Cole Train came through pic.twitter.com/r1Urig5vkn
— Arkansas Baseball (@RazorbackBSB) June 8, 2025

The only thing to dampen the mood in the later innings was when Aiden Jimenez, left with a trainer after throwing 20 pitches, just 10 for strikes.

Christian Foutch finished the formality with a strikeout of Ariel Antigua.

Arkansas joins Coastal Carolina, Louisville, Arizona and UCLA as confirmed teams in the field in the College World Series. The action from Omaha gets underway June 13.