Liam Doyle shines in Tennessee’s regional win over Miami (OH)

Liam Doyle delivered a brilliant season on the mound for Tennessee. On Friday, he was fantastic yet again with the Vols opening the NCAA Tournament at home.

Tennessee is hosting the Knoxville Regional as the No. 14 overall seed in the tournament, and Tony Vitello turned to his ace to start vs. Miami (OH). The RedHawks were able to mount a rally to get a run pushed across in the top of the 3rd to tie the game at 1 each, but that would be it.

Doyle would ultimately cover 6.2 innings with just 1 run allowed. He struck out 11 batters with 3 walks and 4 hits allowed, giving Doyle his 11th game of the season with 9+ strikeouts, the most in the country.

Doyle’s final pitch of the game was his 104th and led to a double play:

At the plate, the tie game only lasted until the Vols came to bat in the bottom of the 3rd inning. A bases-loaded walk and a sacrifice fly made it 3-1 in favor of the Vols, and a 5-run 4th inning solidified the blowout and eventual 9-2 victory for Tennessee.

Reese Chapman opened the scoring for Tennessee with a solo home run in the bottom of the 2nd inning, and he was the lone Vol to homer in the win. Cannon Peebles added a pair of doubles as the other extra-base hits in the game.

Chapman led the Vols with 3 RBI in the win while Gavin Kilen and Andrew Fischer scored 2 runs each. The first 5 hitters in Tennessee’s batting order all produced an RBI in the win.

With the victory, the Vols advance to Saturday’s winner’s bracket game vs. Cincinnati. The Bearcats beat Wake Forest, 11-6, on Friday, and that game is set for 6 pm ET. Be sure to track the game line and the latest odds to win the College World Series through the top Tennessee sports betting apps available in your area.

Paul Harvey

Paul Harvey lives in Atlanta and covers SEC football.