Recapping Tennessee Baseball’s dominant regional run
The race to Omaha kicked off this past weekend, and the Tennessee Volunteers made a statement. Tennessee was at the forefront of the college baseball world, hosting its own regional in Knoxville as the number one national seed. The Knoxville regional consisted of great teams such as the Sun Belt Champion Southern Miss, 3-seed Indiana, and the Horizon League Champions Northern Kentucky.
The Vols started things off Friday night against Northern Kentucky. NKU jumped out immediately with a Cleary Simpson lead-off Homerun. After another hit, the Vols called the bullpen early, bringing in AJ Causey. Causey went on to throw a gem giving up only two runs over the 6.2 innings and striking out nine on four hits. Tennessee knotted things in the second on a Reese Chapman single and then took the lead in the third. Kavares Tears walked with the bases loaded, then Dean Curley hit a sacrifice fly to make it 3-1 heading into the fourth. The next inning, Billy Amick sent one to dead center, sneaking it over the fence for a 3-run homer, giving Tennesseee a five-run lead. That score held until the sixth when Liam McFadden-Ackman took one deep for a solo homer. In the next inning, the Norse snuck one across on a ground out. Tennessee continued to smash as Hunter Ensley and Dylan Dreiling hit homers in the late innings, which led to a final score of 9-3.
After taking down the four-seeded Norse the Vols were set to take on the three-seed Indiana Hoosiers. The Volunteer offense put on a show in this one. Things began in the second on a Dean Curley two-run homer, followed by a Christian Moore two-run shot. In the third, the Vols scored on a walk with the bases loaded. Then, Billy Amick sent one deep for a grand slam. Indiana answered with a long ball of their own as Devin Taylor sent one to left for a three-run blast. Tennessee responded quickly as Cal Stark sent one over the fence. The Hoosiers brought another one home with an RBI double, making the score 10-4 heading into the fifth. Tennessee immediately changed that after a Kavares Tears single brought home two more Volunteers. That score held until the 8th when the Hoosiers plated two more on a groundout and a Josh Pyne single. The score of 12-6 stood as the final. Tennessee was set to take on the winner of Indiana and Southern Miss in the regional final on Sunday night.
Indiana took on Southern Miss Sunday afternoon, and after a 15-3 routing by Southern Miss, the regional final was set for later that night. A rematch between two teams that met in the Super Regionals last season for a chance to go back. Once again, the Tennessee offense impressed, taking the lead in the second with a Hunter Ensley single. The Golden Eagles tied it on a groundout in the third. Tennessee hopped back out front on a Cal Stark Homerun in the top half of the fifth inning. Southern Miss would then take their first lead of the game in the bottom half of the fifth on an Ozzie Pratt double, plating two and giving the Golden Eagles a 3-2 lead going into the sixth. The Tennessee offense from then on out caught fire, beginning with a Kavares Tears three-run HR and a grounder that brought another run home. The score of 6-3 didn’t change until the seventh after a Dylan Dreiling solo homer, and a Dean Curley two-run shot to follow it up. Tennessee scored three more in the ninth on another homer from Stark. The Vols pitching held the Golden Eagles in the ninth, bringing the final score to 12-3.
Tennessee showed why they were deemed the number one national seed, outscoring their opponents 33-12 in three games, and securing another trip to the Super Regionals. Tennessee is slated to host the Super Regional against a Cinderella team in the Evansville Aces. The Aces are just the eighth four-seed to ever make it to a Super Regional. Tennessee has run into a storyline for the ages, except this time they are on the wrong side. As half the nation will be rooting for the Aces, Tennessee is looking to ride their hot streak into their second consecutive season where they have reached Omaha. Who knows what happens once you get to Omaha, maybe Tennessee makes history of its own, winning its first national championship. If this happens, the Vols will become the first number-one national seed to win it all since Miami in 1999.
