Late Notre Dame Offense Leads Irish Over Vols, Ending Tennessee's Historic Season

KNOXVILLE, Tenn.– Tennessee Baseball's season came to an abrupt end in the NCAA Super Regionals in Knoxville, falling to Notre Dame in two of three games.

While the Irish are heading to Omaha, the Vols were shocked by Notre Dame as their historic season will go to the College World Series.

Chase Burns was incredible on the mound for Tennessee through six innings, but he couldn't make it through seven, giving up three runs to give Notre Dame the lead.

Tennessee's bullpen failed to help matters, allowing the Irish to tack on three more in the eighth to put the Vols in a four-run hole heading into the final inning.

The Vols couldn't put together a ninth-inning rally, losing to Notre Dame 7-3 to end their season.

A remarkable season cut short isn't abnormal in NCAA Baseball, as the last three No. 1 overall seeds entering the Super Regionals all lost.

Three straight NCAA baseball tournaments where the No. 1 team in the country fails to make the College World Series.

2019: UCLA (Super regional)
2021: Arkansas (Super regional)
2022: Tennessee (Super regional)
— Chris Vannini (@ChrisVannini) June 12, 2022

Here's how Tennessee's season ended in Knoxville.

Burns Starts Strong, Lipcius Gives Vols Early Lead, Breaks Record

Freshman RHP Chase Burns got the starting nod on Sunday over Drew Beam and Camden Sewell. The freshman–who was the typical Friday night starter in the regular-season–got off to a strong start, retiring the Irish in order in the first.

Tennessee's offense followed up Burns' strong start with one of their own, as super-senior first baseman Luc Lipcius got to Notre Dame's starter Liam Simon by rocketing a solo homer on his second pitch to right center. The home run marked Lipcius' 18th of the season and 40th of his career, putting him all alone atop the Tennessee home run record books ahead of teammate Evan Russell (39).

Jordan Beck saw four straight balls and worked a one-out walk but was later stranded as Drew Gilbert and Trey Lipscomb grounded out.

Notre Dame Answers

After Tennessee struck first with Lipcius' record-setting solo blast, the Irish answered with a run in the top of the second. Designated hitter Jack Zyska led off the inning with an infield single, stole second, stole third and then scored on an RBI groundout from catcher David LaManna. Burns retired his next batter before giving up a two-out walk to shortstop Zack Prajzner, but Prajzner was caught stealing at second by Evan Russell to end the frame.

Notre Dame Makes Early Pitching Change

The Vols began the bottom of the second with a Jorel Ortega leadoff walk, which was later followed up by a two-out Cortland Lawson walk to give the Vols runners on first and second with two outs for the top of the order.

Notre Dame head coach Link Jarrett then gave Simon the early hook, bringing in senior RHP Alex Rao, who had pitched 3.2 innings for the Irish on Friday.

Rao gave up a big RBI single to Seth Stephenson, who roped one into LF to score Ortega and move Lawson to second. Stephenson and Lawson were stranded, as Luc Lipcius flied into foul territory , but not before Tennessee had taken their second lead of the day.

Pitching Duel Between Rao and Burns

Burns retook the mound in the third, allowing Brooks Coetzee to reach on a throwing error. But Coetzee didn't stay on the base paths long, as he over slid second base trying to steal. Burns then got a line out from Spencer Myers that featured impressive speed from Drew Gilbert to make the catch and a pop up from leadoff hitter Ryan Cole.

Tennessee carried their 2-1 lead into the bottom of the third, where Rao did a nice job retiring Gilbert and Lipscomb after plunking Beck to begin the inning. The junior right-fielder went to steal second during Jorel Ortega's at-bat, but Irish catcher David LaManna saw it coming from a mile away and caught him.

Burns faced the minimum in the fourth, as Jared Miller was the first out on a wild 8-3-7-5 putout before Carter Putz and Jack Zyska were both retired by Burns.

A lot happened in the first out that was undoubtedly a roller coaster of emotions for Vol fans in Knoxville, but Burns ended the top of the frame by retiring two of Notre Dame's top bats in first baseman carter Putz and Jack Zyska.

Tennessee didn't get anything going in the bottom of the fourth, as Rao recorded his second straight scoreless inning by retiring the Vols in order.

Burns then shut down Notre Dame in the fifth, retiring the Irish in order on eight pitches to give him 62 through five.

A run hadn't been scored since the second inning in the midway point through the fifth, but, like yesterday (just not near as much), Tennessee found some success at the plate in the fifth.

Tennessee Scores in the Fifth

Vols' shortstop Cortland Lawson led off the bottom of the fifth with a single to left-field for Tennessee's fourth hit of the day, giving the top of the order one on with no outs.

Seth Stephenson ensured Lawson's single wasn't wasted, smoking an RBI double down the left-field line to score the junior infielder.

The double marked Stephenson's second RBI base hit of the day, as the junior came through with two big plays for Tennessee in a low-scoring game.

After the double, Notre Dame went to the pen to bring in standout freshman left Jack Findlay. Findlay retired the side around a one-out Jordan Beck walk, stranding a pair of Vols to keep the Irish within striking distance.

Burns Remains Stellar Through Six

But there was just one problem for Notre Dame's offense: Chase Burns.

Burns continued to deal into the sixth, sitting down the Irish in order for the third time and facing the minimum for the fourth.

The Second-Team All-SEC Freshman had been stellar through six innings, retiring all but four batters and giving up one run.

Burns was key for the Vols to keep the lead in the rubber game, as Tennessee's offense struggled to find that Big Orange groove they often find.

Jared Dickey cracked a one-out single in the bottom of the sixth to give Tennessee a baserunner (who ended up being Ethan Payne), but Evan Russell grounded into a 4-6-3 play to end the inning.

Often times in Tennessee Baseball games, there's always something crazy going on. Whether that's ejections, multiple home runs, you name it, it's always something.

But Tennessee's biggest game of the season had a different feel through six innings. The feel of a close, gritty, true baseball game with both side's seasons on the line.

And in the seventh, the game's thrill level got turned up about one hundred notches.

Notre Dame Takes First Lead Since Friday

Notre Dame first baseman Carter Putz gave the Irish some life on offense in the seventh, delivering a ground-rule double with one out.

Chase Burns retired his next batter with a pop up, but it was all downhill from there for the freshman.

The Irish's five-hole hitter LaManna brought Putz home by slicing an opposite field home run into the Tennessee bullpen to tie the game, only LaManna's second bomb of the season. Vitello decided to keep Burns in the game to face third baseman Jack Brannigan, who crushed a solo shot to left-field to give Notre Dame their first lead of the game.

Chase Burns had been incredibly dominant through six innings but didn't have enough gas to get through the seventh, giving up three runs.

Tennessee couldn't get any runs back after the stretch, going down in order to Findlay.

Camden Sewell is Relieved by Kirby Connell, Notre Dame Adds to lead

Notre Dame's leadoff man in the top of the eighth Brooks Coetzee III was plunked and moved to second on a sac bunt from Spencer Myers.

Coetzee was joined on the base paths by Ryan Cole, who reached first on a throwing error by Trey Lipscomb.

After the error, Vitello went to the pen and brought in junior left Kirby Connell to try and get out of the inning.

Connell got Jared Miller to ground out, which moved the baserunners to second and third, but the elite Big Orange reliever couldn't end the inning.

Notre Dame three-hole hitter Carter Putz came up big in the second straight inning, knocking a two-run double out of Gilbert's reach to extend the lead.

And Putz didn't have to wait long to come home, as clean-up hitter Jack Zyska cracked a single to left to bring Putz home. Zyska was the final out of the inning as well, getting caught in a pickle trying to round first.

The Vols once again couldn't answer Notre Dame in the bottom of the inning, as Jordan Beck struck out, Drew Gilbert was caught stealing after reaching first on an error by Findlay, and Lipscomb popped up to end the frame.

Walsh Takes the Mound, Tennessee Cannot Rally as Findlay Excels

Redmond Walsh took the mound in the top of the ninth to ensure Notre Dame didn't add to their lead.

And he did just that, retiring the side around a two-out double from Zack Prajzner.

But the Vols couldn't get a ninth inning rally going. Findlay remained solid and closed it out for the Irish by retiring Ortega, walking pinch-hitter Christian Moore and getting Evan Russell to ground into a double play to end it.

Tennessee's historic season will go down as one of the best in the SEC and NCAA in recent memory, but Notre Dame shocks the Big Orange to bring the top-seeded team's season to an abrupt close.

Despite the season-ending loss, the Volunteers accomplished a lot in 2022, and Tony Vitello's program is unlikely going anywhere anytime soon.