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Tennessee hammers Southern Miss to advance to fourth consecutive Super Regional
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Tennessee (53-11) beat Southern Miss 12-3 Sunday night to win the Knoxville Regional and advance to the Supers for the fourth consecutive season.
The Vols went 3-0 in the regional round, winning by 6 runs on Friday, 6 runs on Saturday, and then 9 runs on Sunday. They scored 33 combined runs in the 3 games, smacking 12 home runs. Dylan Dreiling went 7-for-13 with 5 runs, 3 RBI, and 2 home runs during the regional round.
Cal Stark hit 2 home runs on Sunday — a solo shot in the top of the fifth and then a 3-run bomb in the top of the ninth. As a team, UT hit 5 homers in the win over Southern Miss.
Nate Snead (9-2) earned the win after pitching 4.1 innings with 3 strikeouts and just 3 hits allowed. Zander Sechrist started on the mound and pitched 4.2 innings without an earned run. The Vols needed just 2 arms to make it out of the weekend unscathed.
Dreiling opened the second with a double. Hunter Ensley cracked an RBI single up the middle on the next at-bat to produce the game’s first run. In the bottom of the fifth, Southern Miss opened with a ground-out before reaching on a fielding error. The Golden Eagles briefly took the lead on a 2-RBI double.
Snead replaced Sechrist and worked himself out of the jam, ending the inning with UT down just 1 run.
Dreiling drew a walk to open the sixth. Ensley doubled through the left side. Kavares Tears then smashed his 18th homer of the season to right-center to put the Vols back on top.
KT KABOOM!!
https://t.co/VtfceOtNmD (SECN)#GBO // #OTH // #BeatUSM pic.twitter.com/wuyZIn82c9
— Tennessee Baseball (@Vol_Baseball) June 2, 2024
Tennessee added 1 more before the inning ended. Dreiling opened the seventh with a solo shot And then Dean Curley scored Tears on a 2-RBI home run to balloon the lead up to 6. Stark’s homer with 1 away in the top of the ninth gave UT the final 12-3 margin.
“Enjoy this one for the night. Then back to work tomorrow,” Ensley said after the game.
The Vols approached this one with the mentality of a team determined to make noise in the tournament rather than just make the tournament. UT is among the favorites to win the College World Series. Tennessee residents who want to lay a bet on the Vols to do so can check out Saturday Down South’s top recommended TN sportsbook apps to take advantage of 1 of several sign-up bonuses.
After making the Super Regionals only twice before 2021, UT has won 12 consecutive games in the regional round. The Vols are 5-3 in their last 8 games at the Supers. They’ll face either East Carolina or Evansville. The Pirates beat VCU 10-7 and then Evansville 19-6 on Sunday to force a winner-take-all game against Evansville on Monday.
Derek Peterson does a bit of everything, not unlike Taysom Hill. He has covered Oklahoma, Nebraska, the Pac-12, and now delivers CFB-wide content.
