Four Takes on a College World Series clinching win in Hattiesburg
HATTIESBURG, Miss. – For the sixth time in program history, the Tennessee Volunteers will compete in the College World Series as Tony Vitello’s program handled Southern Miss 5-0 Monday night to take the decisive third game of the Hattiesburg Super Regional after the squads split the first two contests.
In what ends up being one day removed from the one-year anniversary of Tennessee stalling in Super Regional play last season at home against Notre Dame, the Vols punched their ticket back to Omaha for the second time in the past three seasons. Tennessee (43-20) has also now won three Super Regional series on the road in program history
Zane Denton’s three-run home run in the fifth inning blew the game wide open. Drew Beam’s (9-4) start was as solid as they come and Chase Burns’ flamethrowing right arm was electric in the action-packed seventh inning. Beam is the winner on the day while Niko Mazza (5-2) is the loser for Southern Miss (46-20) after allowing four runs off five hits in five innings of work.
Tennessee is off to Omaha for the College World Series, but first, what was the four biggest takeaways for the Volunteers?
Zeus Denton – Alright, Alright, Alright
Zane Denton smacked three home runs last weekend in the Clemson Regional. His three-run home run in the top of the ninth inning last Saturday looked like it won it for the Vols against the host Tigers. The third baseman registered only three hits that weekend but they all left the yard. Denton has a flare for the dramatics and he’s been making the most of his contact lately in postseason play.
It was a lot of the same on Monday night when his three-run, fifth inning home run blew the game open for the Vols on the shot that felt like it was heard around the world. The ball travelled 418 feet over the right field wall and was clocked at 103 miles per hour off the bat. It scored Christian Moore – who reached base via a hit by pitch – and Maui Ahuna, who led off the frame with a walk. All this came with two outs. Zane Denton’s 16th home run of the season was a huge reason the Vols are Omaha bound.
Good morning. Good afternoon. Goodnight!
Drew Beam was great in this one, throwing a career-high 106 pitches en route to his ninth victory of the season. The righty was working the curveball early and often (just like at Clemson) and tossed 6.0+ innings of shutout baseball where he allowed seven hits with seven strikeouts and just one walk. HE was awesome and just what Tennessee needed in a win-or-go-home ballgame.
Still, he was sitting at 99 pitches entering the seventh and the Vols elected to run him back out there. Carson Paetow and Rodrigo Montenegro sent him to the Tennessee dugouts as they greeted him with back-to-back singles. Tony Vitello and Frank Anderson went to Aaron Combs for Matthew Etzel (strikeout) and then called on Chase Burns to collect the final two outs against the toughest part of the order.
The flamethrower retired Dustin Dickerson (arguably the hottest player in the country right now) on three-straight pitches and also sat down Slade Wilks with some heat. Burns hit triple digits more than a handful of times in the inning and showed some massive emotions coming off the field and to the Tennessee dugout after the third out. It was a huge momentum swing in favor of the Vols and credit both Combs and Burns for saving Beam’s line on the day.
What a sequence. Fun to watch.
Vols jump out first but miss on plenty more
Tennessee jumped on the scoreboard first, for the first time in the series, plating a run off two hits in the bottom of the second inning. Griffin Merritt’s RBI single he muscled into right field was just enough to allow Christian Moore to scoot around from second base after he reached first to leadoff the frame with an infield single. He moved over to second base when Zane Denton worked the count back from down 0-2 to full before taking his base on a walk. After the run-scoring knock from Tennessee’s designated hitter, the Vols were in excellent shape to add on with runners and the corners and nobody out.
Instead, three unproductive at-bats followed from the bottom-third of the order. Blake Burke was not ready for the 0-2 fastball and half-heartily swung through the 95 mph heat. Christian Scott popped out to the third baseman in foul territory and then Cal Stark struck out to end the threat. The Vols stranded a runner at third and missed out on a great opportunity to put some real early pressure on the Golden Eagles, despite taking the lead.
The trend continued in the bottom of the third when Maui Ahuna and Hunter Ensley got on base to lead off the frame. Jared Dickey followed with a flyout, Christian Moore struck out and Zane Denton grounded out. The Vols had left four on base through two innings.
Omaha Bound!
With the game three Super Regional win over Southern Miss on Monday night (well, we can call it Tuesday morning), Tennessee is off to the College World Series for the sixth time in program history and the second time in the past three seasons. The Vols will square off against LSU on Saturday at 7 pm for their first action in Omaha. Monday marked the one-year anniversary of when the Vols were knocked out of the postseason by Notre Dame last year. Fast forward 365 days (and some change) and the Vols are dogpiling on an opposing team’s field.
A lot of this team’s success was due to the groundwork laid by that 2022 team and Tony Vitello made sure to mention that in the postgame press conference.
I said it to the team, but I appreciate greatly everybody that was a part of that team last year. Guys like Trey Lipscomb and I could go on and on. They have one of the most memorable college seasons ever, one of the most talked about, and then they also helped these guys learn some lessons,” Vitello said postgame. “And when you advance to Hoover and beyond, you’re still playing baseball, but there’s other games you still have to play. And that’s one of them. Managing times and itineraries and things like that. These guys having learned those lessons helped us get through. We’re already playing a hell of a team, but then there’s other stuff that goes on. There’s some friendly things being said from the stands to all of us. There’s a lot to take on, but that’s part of the deal. You have to win a bunch of battles. Not just the ones on the field.”
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