This incredible ninja bunt single helped the Tennessee Vols complete a ninth-inning comeback

Ninja bunt, rally cap fuel Vols ninth-inning comeback

By Mike Bertha

May 19, 2015

The University of Tennessee Volunteers missed the SEC Tournament from 2008-13, and they hadn't been to the tourney in back-to-back seasons since '04 and '05. On Saturday, the Vols controlled their own fate and would earn a bid with a win over Mississippi State.

Heading into the bottom of the ninth, the Vols were trailing, 2-0, so they broke out the rally cap to end all rally caps:

And it worked. After a leadoff walk and a hit batsman, junior infielder A.J. Simcox laid down a bunt to move the tying run into scoring position ... but turned that sacrifice into a single by busting out a ninja move on his way to first base:

Simcox was ultimately ruled safe: The umpire recognized that Mississippi State first baseman Wes Rea never applied the tag and that Simcox's maneuver didn't take him out of the basepath or too far toward home plate.

According to a portion of NCAA Rule 7:

A.R. 3 On a tag play between home plate and first base, a batter-runner may retreat toward home plate to evade a tag, but shall be declared out after touching or passing home plate, or leaving the base line. The ball remains live.

The next batter singled to tie the game 2. After the following batter walked, center fielder Chris Hall singled up the middle to send the Vols to the SEC tournament. Check out the full highlights below (and click to 3:55 to see Simcox's ninja bunt).