Tennessee knocks out Evansville, punches ticket to Omaha
The Tennessee Volunteers Baseball Team just punched their ticket to Omaha for the second year in a row after taking down the Evansville Purple Aces.
The Volunteers came into this weekend on a 7-game winning streak after running through the SEC for a Conference title and dominating their Regional. The Vols, ranked as the number one national seed, were to face off against the Evansville Purple Aces, who shocked the baseball world after making it out of the Greenville regional. The Aces were only the eighth 4-seed ever to make it this far.
Game one set the tone for the entire series as things got off to a hot start with a blast in the first from Tennessee’s Blake Burke. Evansville responded quickly in the next half inning with a homer of their own from CJ McGinnis, scoring two runs and giving the Purple Aces the lead. In the third, Tennessee regained the lead spectacularly on a Christian Moore 2-run jack followed by a Billy Amick moon shot. Tennessee would extend that lead in the next inning on a Dean Curley sac-fly scoring Hunter Ensley. The Evansville bats did not go to bed, however, getting a few on before a Kip Fougerousse 2-run double. Chase Hug then singled him in, tying the game. The tie game didn’t last long as Tennessee caught fire in the 5th, beginning with a Blake Burke double that brought home Christian Moore. Burke was brought home on a throwing error after a Billy Amick single, and Amick was plated when Hunter Ensley put one in right for the single. The score of 8-5 held until the 7th when Hunter Ensley came up and hit a rocket to left for a 3-run homerun. The Tennessee pen showed out from the 5th on, only facing trouble in the 9th when the Purple Aces plated a run with the bases loaded. Tennessee brought in Andrew Combs to get the Vols out of the jam. Combs struck out the side giving the Vols the game-one win 11-6.
Tennessee carried the hot bats into game two coming out of the gate with 3 solo home runs in the 1st from Blake Burke, Dylan Dreiling, and Hunter Ensley. They extended the lead on a Blake Burke sacrifice fly in the next inning. The purple Aces were held scoreless through 3 when the bats came to life in the 4th getting their first run across on a groundout and busted the floodgates open when CJ McGinnis sent one over the wall in right for a 2-run homer that brought the score to one. Tennessee found some insurance in the 5th on a Kavares Tears RBI double. Evansville answered quickly scoring one on a Kip Fougerousse single, later tying it on a Brent Widder single, and taking the lead with a CJ McGinnis single. The next inning was huge for the Purple Aces scoring four on a pair of 2-run home runs from Brenden Hord and Kip Fougerousse. The Purple Aces held an 11-5 lead into the 9th where Tennessee put up a fight. Hunter Ensley singled with the bases loaded scoring one followed by a walk, and a Sacrifice fly Tennessee had the tying run in scoring position. But that was all Tennessee had in the 9th, as the Evansville Purple Aces forced a game 3 upsetting the No. 1 ranked Volunteers snapping their 9-game winning streak.
In game three, like the past two, the action started early when after an error and an infield hit, Brent Widder snuck one by the infield for the Purple Aces’ first and only run of the game. Volunteer pitcher Zander Sechrist dazzled in this one, going 6 1/3 and striking out six without giving up a single earned run. Tennessee, however, stayed hot at the plate tying in the bottom half of the inning with a Christian Moore leadoff homer. In the second, the Vols caught fire beginning with back-to-back solo blasts from Dean Curley and Daulton Bargo. They continued to pour it on, getting a few on for a Blake Burke double that scored Cal Stark, followed by a Billy Amick double which brought a run across making the score 5-1 Vols. The score stuck until the fourth when the Vols continued to mash when Daulton Bargo hit his second solo homer of the game, followed by Christian Moore's home run and a Billy Amick 2-run home run, giving the Vols the eight-run lead. Tennessee would score their next three an inning later as Cal Stark sent one Deep for a 3-run homer. This 12-1 score would hold to be the final as the Tennessee Bullpen would shut the Purple Aces down sending the Vols to Omaha for the third time in four years.
The Volunteer Offensive Masterclass wheeled them to victory, and it will need to continue in the next round. Tennessee is set to take on Florida State in the first round in Omaha.
The number one national seed hasn’t won it all since Miami in 1999, but Tony Vitello and his roster are seeking to break the spell. Tennessee has one of the greatest offenses in the history of the NCAA, and maybe this historic offense can bring a National Title to Knoxville for the first time in school history.
