Tennessee and Clemson put on one of the most thrilling games in college baseball this season last weekend and plenty of people tuned in to watch.
According to ESPN, an average of 736,000 viewers watched the Vols outlast the national 4-seed Tigers, 6-5 in 14 innings on Saturday at Doug Kingsmore Stadium, making it the second most watched NCAA Tournament regional game on record on the network and most watched in more than a decade.
Clemson scored four runs in the fifth inning to take a 4-1 lead. Tennessee inched closer in the seventh off of Zane Denton’s solo home run, but trailed by two runs and was down to its last strike in the ninth.
With runners on, Denton came through again, mashing a three-run shot into the stands in left field to put the Vols up 5-4.
Clemson answered to tie the game in the bottom half and force extra innings. The Tigers loaded the bases with one out in the 10th and appeared to walk it off on an infield single but review showed that Christian Moore’s throw from second base to Ethan Payne at first was in time and ended the inning on a double play.
With new life, Hunter Ensley hit an RBI double to put Tennessee in front again in the 14th and pitcher Seth Halvorsen slammed the door on Clemson in the following frame to complete the 6-5 win.
Tennessee defeated Charlotte 9-2 on Sunday to advance to Super Regionals for the third-straight season.
Tennessee is set to face Southern Miss at Pete Taylor Park in Hattiesburg, Mississippi in a best of three series that will send the winner to the College World Series.
Game 1 is scheduled for Saturday at 3 p.m. ET on ESPNU.
*****
– TALK ABOUT IT IN THE ROCKY TOP FORUM.
– ENJOY VOLREPORT WITH A PREMIUM SUBSCRIPTION.
– SUBSCRIBE TO THE VOLREPORT YOUTUBE CHANNEL.
– FOLLOW VOLREPORT ON TWITTER: @TennesseeRivals, @TMansfieldMedia, @ByNoahTaylor, @RealTBannerman, @RyanTSylvia, @Dale_Dowden, @ShayneP_Media, @TylerIvens.
- OT
- TE
- SDE
- CB
- PRO
- OLB
- S
- WR
- SDE
- WDE