The scariest moment of Tennessee baseball’s season occurred in the fifth inning of its 4-1 loss against Kentucky on Saturday night when a Carson Hansen foul ball line drive struck Tennessee’s Tanner Wiggins in the face. The ball was 104 mph off the bat. Wiggins immediately fell to the ground in the dugout with the game briefly stopping.
Tennessee trainer Jeff Wood helped Wiggins back into the home clubhouse before play resumes and Wiggins eventually went to the hospital.
“Woody’s (trainer Jeff Wood) is going to go over there, and I think the good – I mean, he took the foul ball square in the mouth area, but Woody said he was able to talk a little bit,” Tennessee head coach Tony Vitello said postgame. “There’s some stuff with teeth but I don’t, you know, I don’t know if I’m supposed to speculate or not in that situation, but obviously not a good night for us, but he had the worst night out of everybody. It’s the same deal I dealt with (in 2023). I was blessed to get it in the jaw. He got it square in the mouth.
“I know all the guys have already been talking about it. We’ll look after him, and hopefully [he] comes out… you know, Wiggy’s Wiggy, so I think he’ll come back out and be the same guy that he was.”
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Vitello was unable to go into more detail about Wiggins’ status without violating his HIPPA rights. The Vols trailed 2-0 at the time of the event and fell to the Wildcats 4-1 in game two of the series.
Going back to the game after the scary situation was undoubtedly a challenge for Tennessee’s players. Multiple fell to the ground themselves reacting to the situation.
“It just makes it strange,” Vitello said. “Everybody’s praying for him in the dugout and in the back of your mind, you’re wondering what’s going on. I mean, there’s a bunch of blood in our dugout. It’s not part of the deal because it’s abnormal. So I don’t know, it just kind of makes for a weird vibe in the dugout.”
Wiggins is a sophomore who transferred to Tennessee from Weatherford Junior College over the offseason. He’s made four appearances this season, allowing no runs while striking out four in 2.1 innings pitched.
