Tennessee celebrates College World Series ticket punching with massive dogpile

The Tennessee Volunteers punched their ticket to the College World Series Monday night for the second time in the last three years, defeating Southern Miss 5-0 in their winner-take-all Game 3 of the Hattiesburg Super Regional.

The Vols dug themselves in a hole during the series, losing Game 1 on Sunday. Their backs were against the wall in Game 2 as well down 4-0 following the third inning, but they dominated the rest of the series, putting together back to back wins in elimination games to secure their spot in Omaha.

Up with two outs in the ninth inning, a line out to first baseman Blake Burke sealed the deal for Tennessee as the Volunteers celebrated the only way you can, with a dogpile on the pitcher’s mound.

🗣️ OMAHA, OMAHA!@Vol_Baseball x #MCWS pic.twitter.com/uslLFbsrRE

— Southeastern Conference (@SEC) June 13, 2023

After giving up 15 hits and nine runs total in their previous two matchups to Southern Miss, Tennessee’s defense stepped up big in their series finale.

The combined effort of sophomore pitchers Drew Beam and Chase Burns on the mound resulted in a shutout for the Vols, marking their ninth of the season. Beam struck out seven batters in his six innings pitched, allowing the only seven hits that Tennessee would give up on the ballgame and extending his record to 9-4 on the season. And Burns only pitched 2.2 innings but was efficient with four strikeouts.

Griffin Merritt got things going for Tennessee’s offense Monday night with an RBI single to give the Vols an early 1-0 lead. Merrit had a stellar Super Regional round in Hattiesburg, leading the team with an impressive .455 batting average and five hits across three games.

The 1-0 lead seemed like a narrow one, but Zane Denton helped extend that lead with the biggest hit of the evening. With two runners on base in the bottom of the fifth inning, Denton blasted a three-run home run to center field to extend the lead to 4-0. And two innings later Maui Ahuna joined the home run party with a solo-homer of his own, serving as the cherry on top of Tennessee’s 5-0 victory in a must win game.

Tennessee will face a familiar conference foe in the World Series, as they take on LSU in Omaha on Saturday. During the regular season, the Tigers bested the Vols, as LSU won the first two games of their series before Tennessee responded with a 14-7 victory to avoid a sweep. And hopefully for the Volunteers, they can slow down the Tigers again who haven’t lost a game since the SEC Tournament.