Tennessee defeats LSU, wins SEC Tournament
The road to Omaha started this past week as the conference tournaments began. Tennessee came into the SEC Tournament as the number one seed and favorite to win it after winning a share of the SEC regular season title with Kentucky. Things looked bleak to start as Tennessee got waxed by in-state rival Vanderbilt in round two sending them to the loser's portion of the bracket.
Tennessee was set to take on the number three team in the country Texas A&M who also got upset in their first game. Tennessee snuck by the Aggies making it to day four where they faced off against Mississippi State for a chance to get some payback against Vanderbilt in the Semi Finals. After some late-game heroics from Blake Burke, the Vols got their shot. Tennessee jumped out early after some RBIs from Cannon Peebles and Hunter Ensley. Pitcher Zander Sechrist dazzled early on getting through the first four innings scoreless before a Drew Holcomb 2 run home-run that tied the game. The next inning the Vols got hot and didn’t waver down the stretch led by a Christian Moore home run. Tennessee took the semifinal game 7-4.
The Vols faced off in the Championship game against the LSU Tigers seeking some revenge as LSU was the team that beat them twice knocking them out of the NCAA tournament last season. LSU jumped out early in the first on a Jared Jones solo home run in the first off of Vols pitcher AJ Russell. In the second Inning, the Vols brought in a reliever Dylan Loy who was shut down only allowing 2 hits through four and two-thirds innings. Tennessee took the lead on a Billy Amick 3-run home run in the third. The score of 3-1 held until the seventh when Hunter Ensley gave Tennessee some much-needed insurance on a single up the middle. The 4-1 score had the Vols confident into the 9th when LSU gave the Vols a scare when a couple of doubles and Error brought the score to just one. Pitcher Andrew Combs got the final strikeout clinching the Vols their 5th SEC tournament title and the two-step.
Tennessee pulled through in what some are calling the most electric SEC tournament of all time where records were shattered. Tennessee earned the No. 1 overall national seed in the NCAA Tournament and are hosting a regional in Knoxville where they are set to face Northern Kentucky on Friday, May 31st. The odds are stacked against the Vols as a No. 1. seed has not won it all since Miami in 1999. Tennessee has faced adversity all year, and it’s safe to say at this time, Tony Vitello and the Vols are ready for it all.
