Griffin Merritt stresses need for Tennessee to take 'little victories' from LSU loss

Things did not start off well for Tennessee in the College World Series with their 6-3 loss to LSU. Even so, Griffin Merritt is looking for silver linings as the Volunteers try to extend their season.

Merritt addressed what Tennessee’s mindset should be now that they find themselves in the elimination bracket. While a loss is a loss, he says it’s on the Vols to take what they can from what happened against the Tigers in order to pull themselves back up and compete again on Monday.

“You have to take little victories,” Merritt said. “I was proud of the way we fought in the eighth and ninth inning. And it gives us a little bit of boost and momentum to have a good practice tomorrow and get our prep work in and get ready to play a good team on Monday.”

Tennessee lost two of their three matchups against LSU in the regular season when they met in Baton Rouge back at the end of March. That trend continued as the nation’s fifth overall seed shut the Volunteers out with a 5-0 lead through seven innings on Saturday.

Still, Tennessee found some traction in the final two innings, specifically at the top of the eighth. A run of offense from Christian Scott, Maui Ahuna, and Hunter Ensley gave the Vols their three runs of the contest in quick succession. It wasn’t much and, in the end, wasn’t enough but, as Merritt pointed out, it was something to look at on the bright side.

There’s nothing positive about facing elimination. However, considering the groove that Tennessee appeared to find late against LSU, they’re going to have to hold tight to that as they look to keep their run in Omaha alive against Stanford.

Tennessee to face Stanford in elimination game at College World Series

Tennessee baseball’s back is back against the wall after losing its College World Series opener to LSU 6-3 Saturday night at Charles Schwab Field in Omaha. Now the Vols will face Stanford on Monday at 2 p.m. Eastern Time (TV: ESPN) in an elimination game.

Stanford led No. 1-seed Wake Forest 2-1 in the eighth inning in Saturday’s afternoon game, but the Demon Deacons scored two in the bottom of the eighth to win 3-2. Tennessee (43-21) got down 5-0 against LSU and ace Paul Skenes and saw its comeback attempt end in a 6-3 loss, after scoring three runs in the eighth.

Stanford (44-19) got to Omaha after beating Texas in three games in the Super Regional round. The Cardinal lost to Texas A&M in the second game of its home regional on June 3, but bounced back with a win over Cal State Fullerton then two straight wins over the Aggies to advance to Super Regional.