Photo Credit: Kate Luffman/Tennessee Athletics
By Griffin Hadley
Tennessee baseball will advance to yet another NCAA super regional after sweeping through the Knoxville regional.
The Vols (53-11) took care of Southern Miss (43-20) in their third regional game, winning every contest by no less than six runs over the course of the weekend.
Thanks to five total home runs Tennessee was able to control the narrative for the back half of the game, putting up four in the sixth, three in the seventh, and three more in the ninith.
Nate Snead supplemented the offesense in relief, allowing just three hits and zero runs from the Golden Eagle offense through his four and a third innings of work.
After a quiet top of the first the Vols offense came alive, testing Southern Miss’s starting pitcher JB Middleton.
Dylan Dreiling lined a double into left to start the second. Hunter Ensley brought him home with a single into center, putting Tennessee on the board for the first time.
Middleton quieted the storm in the third and Chandler Best relieved him after back-to-back walks of Ensley and Tears. Best worked out of the jam, stranding two Vols.
Zander Sechrist started out strong on the mound for Tennessee, retiring his first seven batters. Despite what looked to be a routine double play, Blake Burke hit the runner heading to second allowing the first run to come across the plate for Southern Miss.
In the bottom of the fourth Sechrist took a liner to the leg with no outs. The senior fell to the turf in pain after taking a shot that was 105 mph off the bat. After shaking off the blow Sechrist popped up and went on to retire three straight, igniting the Lindsey Nelson crowd.
“We’re so blessed when we’re here,” Vitello said. “It’s difficult on the opponent.”
Cal Stark followed up Sechrist’s gutsy inning with a solo bomb to start the fifth, setting the stadium on fire. The no-doubter into the porches put the Vols back in front after an offensive stalemate.
Tennessee’s back two-thirds of the order was the strength of the day as Moore, Burke, and Amick started 0-9 at the plate through the first five innings of play.
“Everybody in there is looking to make it difficult on the opponent,” Tennessee head coach Tony Vitello said.
In the bottom of the fifth the Golden Eagles offense got going reaching on an infield single and a walk. Ozzie Pratt doubled to center bringing in both runners, taking the lead for the first time 3-2.
The double led to Tennessee’s first pitching change of the day as the Vols turned to Snead. Sechrist threw 70 pitches in five and two-thirds, allowing four hits and three runs after working through two defensive errors.
Despite the rally the Golden Eagles’ lead didn’t last long as Tears launched a no-doubter over the right field wall to start the sixth. The long ball brought home Dreiling and Ensley making it a three-run shot, stealing back the lead 5-3.
The Tennessee rally stiffled all of Southern Mississippi’s momentum, ensuing more chaos in the sixth. Reliever Josh Och hit his first two batters, putting two more on for the Vols. A Christian Moore RBI groundout brought in Dean Curley, extending the lead to three.
In the top of the seventh Dreiling added insurance for the Vols, blasting a solo shot into the parking lot behind the wall in left center.
Tennessee added two more with a two-run shot, this time from Curley who sent one over the right field wall. Seven runs over the course of the sixth and seventh opend up the game as the Vols took a 9-3 lead.
With one out in the ninth Stark put the nail in the coffin with a three-run homer to left, extending the lead to nine, crushing any remaining hope for the Golden eagles. This was Stark’s second home run of the game, third of the weekend, and the team’s 159th of the season, breaking Tennessee’s single season record.
“He’s met any challenge you can imagine and he’s improved because of it,” Vitello about Cal Stark postgame.
After a back and fourth start the Vols won handley, dominating at the plate and securing their second home super regional in three years.
Tennessee will now await the winner of the Greenville regional as No. 16 national seed East Carolina extended the weekend to Monday, forcing a winner-take-all elimination game versus Evansville.