For the first seven innings the Tennessee Volunteers simply could not get anything to go their way against the Alabama Crimson Tide on Sunday.

One swing of the bat by senior Shawn Griffin changed all that.

Griffin hit a three-run home run, only his second hit of the series, in the bottom of the eighth to give Tennessee the win, 6-4.

"It felt like we had things going, but we couldn't capitalize," coach Todd Raleigh said after the come-from-behind win. "It was just typical of our team - never giving up. We always give ourselves a chance."

Ty'relle Harris pitched seven innings and gave up 11 hits and four earned runs in what Raleigh called a "gutsy" performance. Harris was making just his fourth start as a Vol and his first in Southeastern Conference play.

Reliever Joey Rosas got the win for the Vols to move to 3-1 on the year. Rosas entered the game in the eighth and cruised through the seven batters he faced, allowing only one hit and striking out three.

Tennessee (22-13, 9-6 SEC) rallied from a one-run deficit in the second inning with a double-steal that scored Griffin. In the same at-bat Danny Lima singled to score Andy Simunic from second and give Tennessee a 2-1 advantage.

Alabama starting pitcher Miers Quigley quieted the Vols through the next five innings before giving up a four-run eighth inning that ultimately doomed the Tide.

Yan Gomes began the rally by reaching base on a single with the Vols trailing 4-2. Cody Brown then walked to set the stage for Griffin's game-winning home run.

Griffin, last week's SEC Player of the Week, crushed a 3-1 fastball over the right field fence to put the Vols up for good.

"Being Player of the Week last week was, I can't even describe the feeling. It was awesome," Griffin said. "But this week I tried to come in and put that behind me and do what I could to help this team out. I didn't really have the best series, but I just tried to come up in the clutch when I could."

With the win, the Vols now find themselves tied with Ole Miss and Florida for second in the SEC at the midway point of the conference schedule. The win also improved Tennessee to 18-4 at home overall, including a 7-2 mark in conference games at Lindsey Nelson Stadium.

The Vols will hit the road this week to play Middle Tennessee State on Tuesday before a three-game series at Arkansas over the weekend.