The Tennessee Volunteers continued their amazing season with a victory in the SEC Tournament Championship against the LSU Tigers. The Volunteers lost in the first round, but battled all the way to the championship. This marks the fifth SEC Tournament win in program history.
Both teams saved their starting pitchers for the NCAA Regionals by throwing many arms in their bullpen.
Tennessee started AJ Russell and he allowed one run in one inning of work. Next came Dylan Loy who threw 4.2 scoreless innings. This gave Loy the win. Andrew Behnke, Kirby Connell, and Aaron Combs also threw in this game.
LSU started Nate Ackenhausen and he threw 2.2 scoreless innings. Fidel Ulloa followed and he did not get an out. He allowed three runs and was tagged with the loss. Christian Little and Samuel Dutton threw scoreless outings before Thatcher Hurd came on to allow one run. Justin Loer, Will Hellmers, and Kade Anderson all threw scoreless innings.
The Tigers got on the board early. In the bottom of the first inning, Jared Jones sends a full-count pitch, 472 feet, to give LSU an early 1-0 lead.
This lead lasted until the third inning. Blake Burke and Christian Moore both got on base for Billy Amick. He gets the 0-1 pitch and sends it to left field for a three run homer. This gave Tennessee a 3-1 lead.
Tennessee added an insurance run in the seventh inning on a run scoring single from Hunter Ensley. This gave the Volunteers a 4-1 lead.
To the bottom of the ninth, LSU starts to rally back. Steven Milam hit a ground-rule double to score Hayden Travinski and Milam scored on an error. This made the score 4-3. Aaron Combs responded on the mound by striking out two batters to clinch the victory for Tennessee.
Tennessee gets an automatic birth the NCAA Tournament and with their great record from the regular season, will host a regional. Their record on the season sits at 50-11 and they are the number one ranked team in the country.
On Monday, we will all find out who Tennesee will face in the NCAA Regionals with the selection show.