Tennessee Defeats Stanford to Stay Alive in Omaha

On Monday, the Tennessee Volunteers defeated Stanford 6-4 in an elimination game in Omaha. The win sends the Cardinal home and puts Tennessee in position to play either Wake Forest or LSU on Tuesday night at 7:00 p.m. E.T.

The game got off to a slow start for Tennessee as they were able to get hits and runners on the bases. However, they could not get those runners home. Stanford took advantage of this. Two RBI by Albertos Rios, an RBI single by Braden Montgomery, and a throwing error by Tennessee catcher Cal Stark got the Cardinal 4 runs. They jumped out to a 4-0 lead all the way until the 5th inning. The Stanford barrage of runs came with Chase Dollander on the mound for the Vols. In his start, he finished with two strikeouts and two walks while giving up four earned runs on four hits. He pitched three full innings. Chase Burns came on to replace him and pitched the remaining six innings. He had nine strikeouts while giving up just two hits and earned his 5th win of the season.

The offense flourished for the Volunteers with a big top of the fifth inning. Zane Denton scored on a sacrifice fly by Hunter Ensley. This was followed up by an RBI single by Jared Dickey that scored Stark. Christian Moore then had a two-run single that scored both Maui Ahuna and Dickey. By the end of the inning, the Volunteers had tied it back up, and the score became 4-4. A two-run seventh inning gave the Volunteers a lead that they would hold on to victory. Denton hit a ground out deep enough to score Griffin Merritt. The 7th run for the Vols would be Blake Burke, who scored on a wild pitch.

It was the first win for the Tennessee baseball program in Omaha since 2001.

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