Vols face another ace in Stanford's Quinn Mathews, who threw 156 pitches in last outing

Tennessee players knew exactly what they were getting into Saturday, facing LSU ace Paul Skenes in the opening round of the College World Series. He’s been described as the best pitching prospect in over a decade and likely the No. 2 overall pick in the MLB Draft.

“We knew coming in, I mean, he has an unreal arm,” Hunter Ensley said after the Vols lost 6-3 to Skenes and his Tigers.

“Obviously Paul’s really good,” Griffin Merritt added. “There’s no other way to put it. And he was on his game tonight. And he was executing his game plan. And when you face a guy like that you need a couple of breaks to go your way.”

Tennessee couldn’t catch a break until the eighth inning. Maui Ahuna singled to score Christian Scott, cutting the LSU lead to 5-1 and finally chasing Skenes after he struck out 12 over 7.2 innings pitched, giving up two earned runs on just five hits. 

Ensley followed with a two-run home run to get the Vols back within two, at 5-3, but LSU added another run in the bottom of the eighth and closed Tennessee out in the ninth. 

Now it’s win or go home in the elimination bracket, where the Vols (43-21) will face Stanford (44-19) and another staff ace on Monday afternoon (2 p.m. Eastern Time, ESPN) at Charles Schwab Field in Omaha.

This time it’s left-hander Quinn Mathews opposing the Vols. All he did for Stanford in the Super Regional round last week was strike out a season-high 16 Texas batters while throwing an unthinkable 156 pitches in a complete-game win to keep his team’s season alive.

Texas won 7-5 in Game 1 of the Stanford Super Regional, but the Cardinal won 8-3 behind Mathews’ superhuman effort in Game 2, then won 7-6 in Game 3 to advance to Omaha for the third time in as many years.

Mathews got an extra day of rest when Stanford opened the College World Series Saturday in a 3-2 loss to No. 1-seed Wake Forest.  

Stanford coach David Esquer: “I know (Quinn Mathews will) want to give us his best”

“We’ll see what we hope he can bring us,” Stanford coach David Esquer said after the loss, “get us into the sixth or seventh inning. And then we’ll have to rustle up some magic in the back of that bullpen, which has been a little bit of a mix and match.

“It very well could be Quinn’s last outing. I know he’ll want to give us his best.”

Mathews leads the Stanford staff with 10 wins in 17 starts. He’s pitched 120.0 innings with a 3.60 ERA and a 1.21 WHIP. He’s given up 55 runs on 106 hits, including 43 extra-base hits.

“I’m glad that Quinn’s going for us,” Esquer said. “And I’m looking forward to seeing him give us another great outing.”

Tony Vitello has his own ace at his disposal in Game 2 in Omaha.

The Tennessee head coach stuck with his normal rotation, going with Andrew Lindsey in Game 1 against LSU, and now will throw Chase Dollander against Stanford. And he’ll hope to get to Drew Beam in a potential Game 3.

“I want to see Drew Beam pitch again and so does Chase Dollander,” Vitello said Saturday night. “… I probably have as much confidence in that guy as anybody else on the staff. And … we’ve got a bullpen that’s basically has gotten us here.”

ESPN ranked Dollander as the fifth-best MLB prospect playing in the College World Series, noting that this time last year, he was the best pitching prospect in college baseball.

“This spring, he’s looked mortal at times,” ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel wrote, “but things have clicked of late and his command has been sharper, increasing the odds he goes in the top 10 picks in July.”

Up Next: Vols vs. Stanford, Monday, 2 p.m. ET, ESPN

Dollander went seven innings on Sunday in a must-win Game 2 against Southern Miss in the Hattiesburg Super Regional, giving up four runs on seven hits, with all four runs scored in the third inning.

After giving up a three-run home run, Dollander retired 12 straight batters and 18 of the next 19. Beam in Game 3 at Southern Miss scattered seven hits over six shutout innings and Chase Burns stayed hot out of the bullpen.

The starter-turned-closer pitched a perfect 2.2 innings to help the Vols punch their ticket to Omaha. In 10 innings over his three postseason outings, Burns has given up just one run on six hits.

“We’re fortunate enough that we’ve got a guy that people call our closer in Chase Burns,” Vitello said, “but he’s really a starter that we’re fortunate enough to use in a bunch of different situations.”

The situation for, and the alignment of, the Tennessee pitching staff gives Vitello confidence with his team’s back against the wall.

“So in combination,” Vitello said, “with that and our position players getting after it, got plenty of faith in this group.”