PHOTOS: Tennessee Beats LSU in Raucous Environment to Advance to SEC Tournament Semifinals

HOOVER, Ala. — At 9:55 p.m. Central Time, Garth Brooks’s “Callin’ Baton Rouge” blared throughout Hoover Metropolitan Stadium. Tennessee fans, of course, chanted

HOOVER, Ala. — At 9:55 p.m. Central Time, Garth Brooks’s “Callin’ Baton Rouge” blared throughout Hoover Metropolitan Stadium.

Tennessee fans, of course, chanted “Go Big Orange!” in response.

Granted, this only came after “Rocky Top” had reverberated throughout the field, LSU fans having punctuated the air with their own Tiger-clad cheers.

Baggy-eyed fans scurried to their seats, eager to claim prime spots among a splashy mix of bellowing, orange-clad Tennessee fans and a rowdy Cajun crowd from LSU.

Both teams warmed up on the field, several players looking extremely focused despite such a late start.

And 8-year-old boys draped themselves on railings and begged for foul balls, bedtime be darned.

After all, No. 1 Tennessee and No. 21 LSU had SEC Tournament baseball to play.

And no time issue would deter a crowd that buzzed like this one, the energy pulsating from pregame until Chase Dollander hurled the first pitch of the night toward Evan Russell at 10:05 p.m. CT. 

Three hours later, just before 1:15 a.m., the game’s final out was collected.

Here are scenes from in-between, as the Vols beat the Bayou Bengals in a raucous, jam-packed Hoover Metropolitan Stadium.