The Vols are headed to Omaha
Tennessee 15 12 0
LSU 6 8 3
W — Blade Tidwell, L — Landon Marceaux
Notes
For the first time in 16 years, and 70 years after they did it the first time, Tennessee is headed to the College World Series winning the three game series with LSU in two games. A dramatic season at Lindsey Nelson Stadium culminated with a blow out win over the Tigers on Sunday.
Tennessee’s bats had been quiet the last two times out but they exploded today with the long ball leading the way. On a hot June day, the ball was flying out and Tennessee took advantage, homering six times. Jake Rucker set the tone, homering in his first two at-bats to score the Vols first three runs. Drew Gilbert, Connor Pavolony, Jordan Beck and Evan Russell all also homered in the win. LSU ace Landon Marceaux ran out of gas after three innings due to a heavy workload over the last few weeks and Tennessee pounced on the Tigers bullpen as the first four relievers didn’t record more than two outs.
Credit to Rucker and Beck, both struggled at the plate last week, combining to hit 3-for-23 in the regional. This weekend the duo were fantastic. Beck went 5-for-9 on the weekend with four RBIs and the kill shot three run homer that put Tennessee up by seven runs in the fifth inning. Rucker went 5-of-9 at the plate with a walk, tallying four RBIs and two homers. Prior to Sunday’s game Rucker hadn’t homered since May 1st against Kentucky.
Tennessee wasn’t the only team to capitalize on the hitter friendly environment at Lindsey Nelson Stadium. LSU homered four times but Tennessee starter Blade Tidwell gave up very little around the long balls while eating up seven innings. Tidwell allowed six hits (four homers), six earned runs and zero walks while striking out seven. The true freshman’s final numbers didn’t look great but he was solid and definitely good enough to earn his ninth win of the season.
Camden Sewell worked a 1-2-3 eighth inning before allowing two baserunners to reach with one-out in the ninth. With the nine run lead it was meaningless, allowing Redmond Walsh to pitch for the first time this weekend.
Now to Omaha, Tennessee will play its first game on Sunday against the winner of tomorrow’s game three between Virginia and Dallas Baptist. The other teams on the side of Tennessee’s bracket will be the winner of the Notre Dame/Mississippi State series and the winner of the Texas/South Florida series.
Quotes
Tony Vitello on what was going on in his mind after the final out
“Just catch it please but also really wanted Redmond to have success there and come in and get the job done. I think he threw one ball to two hitters so there wasn’t a lot of conscious thought at the time but it was a great feeling and I wanted to see the kids celebrate a little bit. Usually it’s a quick handshake and you want to be respectful of the other team— and that certainly was the case today— but made sure to watch for a little bit and see the smiles on these guys faces because there’s been a lot of days here where they're enjoying their work but it ain’t easy, it isn’t everything to smile about so enjoyed that vision and it will never leave my head.”
Vitello on the pitching in a small ballpark
“I think what we’re looking for fits into that niche of what works. A big part of that is you have to be tough. You have to be really tough. Frank (Anderson) has pitched in places like Stillwater and Lubbock, or coached pitchers, in those places where the ball can absolutely fly with the wind. At the end of the day that’s our head baseball coach. I’m kind of the head coach of a lot of other things but coach Mainieri is dead on. His (Anderson’s) resume is ridiculous. I said it when I got hired, he’s kind of notorious if you follow college baseball for being the guy that when a head coach is in trouble or in hot water he comes in and saves the day and reverses that into a true 180. I figured before I ever get in trouble I should just hire him off the bat.”
Vitello on why his players have been able to avoid long slumps after the start of the season
“I think toughness. The weight room is behind us, I think toughness and a willingness to accept hard times is a part of that. … It’s been a grind and there are some guys on our team with a lot of scars from a lot of tough losses and bitter pills to swallow so when personal success doesn’t come I think these guys are able to forge on and did so in a fashion that they found ways to win some games ugly early in the year and put the personal deal behind them where maybe they weren’t getting theirs or living up to other people’s expectations kind of led them in the right direction.”
Vitello on what it means to make the College World Series
“I think it’s hard to put into words going to Omaha. They’ll be dancing in the streets tonight. That’s the present moment thing. I think the next thing is the most important thing— we have a chance to make it to the National Championship series. You have two groups of four and it’s two different tournaments and the winner of each of those tournaments will meet in the middle for the championship series. We have a chance to win another tournament which we were almost able to do in Hoover and we’ve won our last one and it’ll be a fun group to take on that challenge.”
Evan Russell on when his focus turns to Omaha
“It’s probably cliche to say but for me personally it’s right now. Even though it was a nice celebration out there after winning today for some reason it was expected. We have a talented group of guys. We have a lot of guys that want to win and I don’t think anybody wants to stop playing together, including the guy to my right (Jake Rucker). I’d love to play forever with him. I don’t think anyone is ready for this to end and I know for a fact no one wants this to end with us holding our heads down. I think there’s a lot of guys that are ready to get back to work tomorrow and see what Omaha’s all about.”
Jake Rucker on his first home run
“Obviously it was an exciting moment when I squared up that pitch pretty good off Marceaux. Marceaux is one of the best pitchers in the country this past year and me just getting that hit and seeing all the fans just overwhelmed with excitement and cheering it brings you that feeling that you’re on the top of the world.”
Tennessee 15 12 0
LSU 6 8 3
W — Blade Tidwell, L — Landon Marceaux
Notes
For the first time in 16 years, and 70 years after they did it the first time, Tennessee is headed to the College World Series winning the three game series with LSU in two games. A dramatic season at Lindsey Nelson Stadium culminated with a blow out win over the Tigers on Sunday.
Tennessee’s bats had been quiet the last two times out but they exploded today with the long ball leading the way. On a hot June day, the ball was flying out and Tennessee took advantage, homering six times. Jake Rucker set the tone, homering in his first two at-bats to score the Vols first three runs. Drew Gilbert, Connor Pavolony, Jordan Beck and Evan Russell all also homered in the win. LSU ace Landon Marceaux ran out of gas after three innings due to a heavy workload over the last few weeks and Tennessee pounced on the Tigers bullpen as the first four relievers didn’t record more than two outs.
Credit to Rucker and Beck, both struggled at the plate last week, combining to hit 3-for-23 in the regional. This weekend the duo were fantastic. Beck went 5-for-9 on the weekend with four RBIs and the kill shot three run homer that put Tennessee up by seven runs in the fifth inning. Rucker went 5-of-9 at the plate with a walk, tallying four RBIs and two homers. Prior to Sunday’s game Rucker hadn’t homered since May 1st against Kentucky.
Tennessee wasn’t the only team to capitalize on the hitter friendly environment at Lindsey Nelson Stadium. LSU homered four times but Tennessee starter Blade Tidwell gave up very little around the long balls while eating up seven innings. Tidwell allowed six hits (four homers), six earned runs and zero walks while striking out seven. The true freshman’s final numbers didn’t look great but he was solid and definitely good enough to earn his ninth win of the season.
Camden Sewell worked a 1-2-3 eighth inning before allowing two baserunners to reach with one-out in the ninth. With the nine run lead it was meaningless, allowing Redmond Walsh to pitch for the first time this weekend.
Now to Omaha, Tennessee will play its first game on Sunday against the winner of tomorrow’s game three between Virginia and Dallas Baptist. The other teams on the side of Tennessee’s bracket will be the winner of the Notre Dame/Mississippi State series and the winner of the Texas/South Florida series.
Quotes
Tony Vitello on what was going on in his mind after the final out
“Just catch it please but also really wanted Redmond to have success there and come in and get the job done. I think he threw one ball to two hitters so there wasn’t a lot of conscious thought at the time but it was a great feeling and I wanted to see the kids celebrate a little bit. Usually it’s a quick handshake and you want to be respectful of the other team— and that certainly was the case today— but made sure to watch for a little bit and see the smiles on these guys faces because there’s been a lot of days here where they're enjoying their work but it ain’t easy, it isn’t everything to smile about so enjoyed that vision and it will never leave my head.”
Vitello on the pitching in a small ballpark
“I think what we’re looking for fits into that niche of what works. A big part of that is you have to be tough. You have to be really tough. Frank (Anderson) has pitched in places like Stillwater and Lubbock, or coached pitchers, in those places where the ball can absolutely fly with the wind. At the end of the day that’s our head baseball coach. I’m kind of the head coach of a lot of other things but coach Mainieri is dead on. His (Anderson’s) resume is ridiculous. I said it when I got hired, he’s kind of notorious if you follow college baseball for being the guy that when a head coach is in trouble or in hot water he comes in and saves the day and reverses that into a true 180. I figured before I ever get in trouble I should just hire him off the bat.”
Vitello on why his players have been able to avoid long slumps after the start of the season
“I think toughness. The weight room is behind us, I think toughness and a willingness to accept hard times is a part of that. … It’s been a grind and there are some guys on our team with a lot of scars from a lot of tough losses and bitter pills to swallow so when personal success doesn’t come I think these guys are able to forge on and did so in a fashion that they found ways to win some games ugly early in the year and put the personal deal behind them where maybe they weren’t getting theirs or living up to other people’s expectations kind of led them in the right direction.”
Vitello on what it means to make the College World Series
“I think it’s hard to put into words going to Omaha. They’ll be dancing in the streets tonight. That’s the present moment thing. I think the next thing is the most important thing— we have a chance to make it to the National Championship series. You have two groups of four and it’s two different tournaments and the winner of each of those tournaments will meet in the middle for the championship series. We have a chance to win another tournament which we were almost able to do in Hoover and we’ve won our last one and it’ll be a fun group to take on that challenge.”
Evan Russell on when his focus turns to Omaha
“It’s probably cliche to say but for me personally it’s right now. Even though it was a nice celebration out there after winning today for some reason it was expected. We have a talented group of guys. We have a lot of guys that want to win and I don’t think anybody wants to stop playing together, including the guy to my right (Jake Rucker). I’d love to play forever with him. I don’t think anyone is ready for this to end and I know for a fact no one wants this to end with us holding our heads down. I think there’s a lot of guys that are ready to get back to work tomorrow and see what Omaha’s all about.”
Jake Rucker on his first home run
“Obviously it was an exciting moment when I squared up that pitch pretty good off Marceaux. Marceaux is one of the best pitchers in the country this past year and me just getting that hit and seeing all the fans just overwhelmed with excitement and cheering it brings you that feeling that you’re on the top of the world.”
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