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First pitch: 3 p.m. ET
Stream: ESPN2
Listen: Click here (FREE)
Watch: Click here (FREE)
Starting Lineup:
Pregame Notes:
- Tennessee is the away team for today's game despite being the host of the Knoxville Super Regional.
- Vols are rolling with the same starting lineup.
- There's one change in LSU's starting lineup. Lefty Brody Drost starts at designated hitter. Cade Beloso was the designated hitter in yesterday's game.
Key Plays:
T-1st: Tennessee 2, LSU 0
Jake Rucker gets Tennessee on the board first with a two-run home run to left-center. Liam Spence reached to begin the inning on a throwing error from LSU shortstop Jordan Thompson. Max Ferguson then bunted Spence over to second to set the stage for Rucker's eighth homer of the season.
B-1st: Tennessee 2, LSU 1
LSU right fielder Dylan Crews hit his 17th home run of the season to cut the Tennessee lead in half. The lead off home run was hit to dead center.
T-2nd: Tennessee 2, LSU 1
Tennessee squandered an opportunity in the top of the second to add to its lead. After Luc Lipcius was hit by a pitch and Jordan Beck singled to put runners on first and second with no outs, LSU starter Landon Marceaux struck out three consecutive batters — Pete Derkay, Connor Pavolony and Liam Spence — to get out of the jam.
T-3rd: Tennessee 3, LSU 1
Rucker hit his second home run of the game with one out in the third. His ninth homer of the season was a solo shot the opposite way into the Tennessee bullpen to extend the lead to 3-1.
B-3rd: Tennessee 3, LSU 2
LSU's Crews hits his second home run of the game, a solo shot to left field to cut Tennessee's lead to one.
T-4th: Tennessee 5, LSU 2
LSU brings in freshman RHP Garrett Edwards (2-2, 2.95 ERA) to replace Marceaux.
Marceaux's final line: 3.0 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 3 K, 0 BB, 38 pitches
Jordan Beck led off the inning with a single and two batters later, Pavolony takes Edwards deep to left-center for a two-run homer and to extend Tennessee's lead to 5-2.
T-5th: Tennessee 11, LSU 2
Drew Gilbert led off the fifth with a rocket into the Tennessee bullpen to push Tennessee's lead to 6-2. Gilbert's 10th homer of the season sparked a five-run fifth inning to extend the lead to 10-2.
Beck did most of the damage, smashing a three-run homer to left after Evan Russell doubled and Lipcius walked. It was Beck's 15th homer of the season to tie Lipcius for the team-lead.
Liam Spence hit an RBI groundout and Rucker hit an RBI single through the right to put the finishing touches on the inning.
In totality, Tennessee scored six runs in the inning, LSU made two pitching changes, Vols hit two homers, the entire lineup came to the plate and they booked a flight to Omaha.
B-6th: Tennessee 11, LSU 4
Tre' Morgan cut into the Tennessee lead with a two-run homer to right-center.
B-7th: Tennessee 11, LSU 6
LSU's Brody Drost cuts into the Tennessee lead with a two-run homer to make it 11-6.
T-8th: Tennessee 13, LSU 6
Evan Russell gets a pair of runs back with a two-run shot to right field. Russell's homer pushed Tennessee's lead back to seven, 13-6.
B-8th: Tennessee 13, LSU 6
Camden Sewell relieved Blade Tidwell to begin the bottom of the eighth inning and worked an easy 1-2-3 inning.
Tidwell's final line: 7.0 IP, 7 H, 6 ER, 0 BB, 7 K, 4 HR, 93 pitches (64 strikes)
T-9th: Tennessee 15, LSU 6
After Pete Derkay leads off the inning with a single, Pavolony hits an RBI double to extend the Tennessee lead to 14-6.
The Vols would score their final run of the game on a hard hit ball from Rucker that LSU shortstop Jordan Thompson booted to make it 15-6.
Here’s four quick takeaways from Tennessee’s win.
Rounding 1st — Rocky Top Bombers
Tennessee broke out the power bats in its 15-6 win over LSU on Sunday to sweep the Knoxville Super Regional. And it wasted zero time doing so, as Jake Rucker launched a two-run homer in the first to give the Vols an early lead.
It was the first of two homers for Rucker on the day. He hit a solo shot two innings later in the third to extend Tennessee's lead to 3-1. The homers were his eighth, and ninth, on the season, respectively.
Several other Vols also got in on the Home Run Derby. Connor Pavolony hit a two-run shot to make it 5-2, Drew Gilbert hit a solo homer to make it 6-2, Jordan Beck hit a three-run bomb to make it 9-2 and Evan Russell hit a two-run homer to make it 13-6.
Tennessee's six home runs on the day are the most its ever hit in an NCAA Tournament game.
Rounding 2nd — Tidwell Shines
Freshman phenom Blade Tidwell (W, 10-3) got the start for the Vols on Sunday and guided them to a win.The only real damage LSU managed to do against Tigers came when the game was out of reach.
Tidwell pitch seven innings on the day, allowing six earned runs on seven hits. He didn't walk a batter and struck out seven on 93 pitches. He's the second pitcher to reach 10 wins this season, joining Vols' junior right-hander Chad Dallas who has 11.
Rounding 3rd — Redmond Shuts the Door
East Tennessee native Redmond Walsh got to record the final out and punch Tennessee's ticket to Omaha when he came on with one out in the ninth inning and a runner on first and second. Walsh promptly got a strikeout and a line drive to Rucker at third to end the game.
The win marked Tennessee's fifth win of the season against LSU. Tennessee went 5-0 against the Tigers this season, which marked just the fifth time in program history that the Vols have defeated the same team five times in one season and the first time since 1984 that LSU has lost to the same team five times in one season.
Headed for Home — TICKET PUNCHED
More importantly than sweeping the Tigers in 2021, Tennessee punched its ticket to Omaha with the win on Sunday. The Vols' upcoming trip to Omaha for the College World Series marks just the fifth time in program history and first time since 2005.
Sunday's victory also gives UT 50 wins on the season—just the third time in program history that Tennessee has reached that plateau and first time since 1995.
