Tennessee’s perfect run under Tony Vitello in NCAA tournament regional games held inside Lindsey Nelson Stadium is over.
The Volunteers are now playing for their season.
Tennessee relief pitcher Nate Snead loaded the bases in the bottom of the ninth inning on a Matt Scannell walk, a Marek Houston single up the middle and a Kade Lewis bunt single before walking Jack Winnay on four pitches in Wake Forest’s 7-6 triumph Sunday night before a rain-soaked crowd of 6,015.
The Knoxville Regional’s second-seeded Demon Deacons (39-21), who opened Sunday with a 10-3 win over third-seeded Cincinnati, have earned a second crack at the top-seeded Vols (45-17) in Monday’s winner-take-all contest for a berth in next weekend’s super regional round.
“That was not a good way to end the game,” Vitello said afterward in a news conference. “There were sloppy parts to it, whether it be the weather or other things going on, but otherwise it was a pretty good back-and-forth battle going on. Obviously they had the last word there in the bottom of the ninth, and it went their way, so kudos to them.”