NEWYou can now listen to Pakinomist articles!
Tennessee Volunteers catcher Stone Lawless thought he had given his team the lead in the top of the ninth inning against the Georgia Bulldogs on Sunday, but his dramatic bat slam was all for naught.
Lawless drove Bulldogs pitcher Justin Byrd’s pitch deep to left field. He slammed the bat into the ground and began celebrating with his teammates in the dugout. However, Georgia left fielder Cole Johnson jumped the wall and robbed the home run.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON Pakinomist
Tennessee’s Stone Lawless at bat against Nicholls during an NCAA college baseball game on February 13, 2026 in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Saul Young/News Sentinel/USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)
Johnson and his Bulldogs teammates celebrated the 8-7 victory. Lawless was stunned.
“At first I didn’t think it was a questionable one. I thought he caught the ball off the end of the bat,” Georgia head coach Wes Johnson said after the game, via the team’s website. “When Cole had to come back, he’s working on it. He comes after it in batting practice and works on it. So when I saw him make the catch, I couldn’t believe it.”
Cole Johnson said he knew if the ball was going to be a home run, it would have been out of his reach.
2026 NCAA MEN’S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT SELECTED SELECTED
Tennessee catcher Stone Lawless (27) hits a fly ball during the SEC Baseball Tournament Semifinals game between the Tennessee Volunteers and the Vanderbilt Commodores on May 24, 2025 at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium in Hoover, Alabama. (David Buono/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
“I knew it was going to be right up the wall and if it was a homer, it wasn’t going to be much out,” he said. “I was just trying to get my back against the wall as fast as I could.”
Tennessee had a 6–3 lead in the top of the seventh inning, but a five-run inning in the bottom of the frame put Georgia up. Bryce Callaway’s three-run home run helped give Georgia the lead.
A Georgia baseball cap during the men’s college baseball game between the Georgia Bulldogs and the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets on March 3, 2024 at Coolray Field in Lawrenceville, Georgia. (David J. Griffin/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE Pakinomist APP
The Bulldogs are 17-4 on the year. Tennessee dropped to 14-6.
