Jake Wyeth lined out to junior All-America third baseman Jake Rucker to record the final out of a 15-6 win over LSU in front of a loud capacity crowd, and the Vols promptly made a dog pile near the pitcher's mound.
Tennessee smashed a program-record (for the NCAA Tournament) six home runs in Sunday's win, starting in the top of the first inning, when Rucker hit the first of his two homers — a two-run blast that scored senior shortstop Liam Spence and gave the Vols a 2-0 lead.
LSU never rallied to tie the score from that point forward, and the Vols essentially put away the game with a six-run fifth inning, when they sent 11 batters to the plate and hit two homers. Sophomore center fielder Drew Gilbert opened that inning with a solo home run down the right field line, and sophomore right fielder Jordan Beck hit a titanic three-run blast later in the inning.
The Tigers hit two-run homers in the sixth and seventh innings to pull within 11-6, but Vols senior left fielder Evan Russell responded with a two-run blast of his own in the top of the eighth, and the Vols scored twice more in the top of the ninth to make the win even more convincing.
Hard-throwing freshman righty Blade Tidwell earned the win on the mound for Tennessee, improving to 10-3 on the year. Working with the lead for every pitch he threw, Tidwell pounded the zone and took some damage as a result, but he needed just 93 pitches to navigate a tough lineup for seven innings, finishing with six strikeouts and zero walks. Tennessee's pitchers struck out 25 LSU batters and issued only one walk in the series.
Tennessee will work out in Knoxville for a few days before flying to Omaha, where they'll open the tournament with a game against the winner of Monday's game between Virginia and Dallas Baptist.
Let's go Vols!
