Years and years from now, the Tennessee baseball media guide will reflect that the Volunteers were the top overall seed in the 2022 NCAA tournament and won the Knoxville Regional over Alabama State, Campbell and Georgia Tech by the combined score of 31-13.
Current Vols coaches and players will remember the regional being much more eventful than that.
Falling behind 4-0 for a second consecutive contest, top-ranked Tennessee turned a 4-3 deficit in the top of the ninth inning into a 9-6 victory over Georgia Tech on Sunday night before the latest rabid atmosphere inside Lindsey Nelson Stadium. The Vols thrived all season when no do-or-die elements were involved, and they excelled this weekend when two abrupt losses could have signaled the end of a magnificent year.
“Obviously everybody knows that,” Tennessee center fielder Drew Gilbert said in a news conference, “but when you worry about things like that, that’s when things usually go south. For us, it’s about controlling what we can control, which is showing up preparing and competing our best.”
Tennessee’s preparation will now center on the super regionals and a best-of-three series with visiting Notre Dame, which won the Statesboro Regional on Sunday night with a 2-1 topping of Texas Tech.