Tennessee last season became the NCAA baseball tournament’s first top overall seed to celebrate a national championship at the College World Series since the 1999 Miami Hurricanes.
On Monday night, Tony Vitello’s Volunteers became the first defending national champions to reach the NCAA’s super regional round since the 2018 Florida Gators.
Manny Marin’s three-run home run to right-center field and Andrew Fischer’s two-run homer to right highlighted a seven-run fourth inning that propelled the Vols to an 11-5 downing of Wake Forest in the title game of the Knoxville Regional before 6,198 fans inside a juiced up Lindsey Nelson Stadium. This is the fifth straight year Tennessee has reached the super regional round, having advanced to Omaha in three of the past four seasons.
“It’s tough to describe the energy tonight in the building, because it was a little bit different,” Vitello said afterward in a news conference. “The energy was insane, and the response of our guys after being down early was equally insane.”
Southeastern Conference pitcher of the year Liam Doyle, who threw 104 pitches during Friday night’s 9-2 win over Miami of Ohio, entered with two out in the seventh inning and retired all seven of the batters he faced. Doyle tallied five strikeouts, giving him 158 for the season to break Luke Hochevar’s school record of 154 in 2005.
“I wanted the ball, and I knew I could win for my team,” Doyle said. “I put it all on the line out there tonight.”
The Vols, who are seeded No. 14 overall in the 64-team field, improved to 46-17 and will next play in Friday’s super regional at No. 3 Arkansas (46-13). Tennessee ventured to Fayetteville last month to close its regular season, with the Razorbacks winning two of the three contests.
Fischer picked up his 24th homer of the season, but it was just the third for Marin and the freshman’s first since an 11-1 rout of St. Bonaventure on March 8.
“It feels good,” Marin said. “That’s where I wanted to be as far as that moment. That’s why you come here to Tennessee.”
Wake Forest (39-22), which forced the Knoxville Regional’s winner-take-all scenario with Sunday night’s 7-6 topping of the Vols, struck first Monday with Matt Conte’s two-run homer to right in the second inning. Tennessee had the potential for a big third inning when Levi Clark was hit by a pitch, Cannon Peebles drew a walk and Marin had a bunt single to load the bases with nobody out, but a Gavin Kilen double play resulted in Clark scoring but halted the momentum.
Tennessee would have to wait until the fourth, when Hunter Ensley and Dean Curley drew walks before advancing to second and third on Zach Johnston’s one-out wild pitch. A check swing by Reese Chapman resulted in a slow grounder to second base that scored Ensley and put runners on the corners.
A wild pitch by Duncan Marsten brought in Curley to give Tennessee its first lead at 3-2. Clark was then hit by a pitch again to set the stage for Marin’s biggest swing of the season.
Marin went 3-for-3 with a walk and three RBIs, with the 9-hole hitter finishing a triple shy of hitting for the cycle.
“This time of year, these guys aren’t freshmen anymore,” Vitello said. “They’ve had to play through the SEC, and it’s hell.”
Tennessee’s 8-2 advantage through four innings was trimmed to 8-4 in the fifth on Matt Scannell’s two-run homer to left-center off of Brayden Krenzel and to 8-5 in the sixth on Austin Hawke’s RBI single up the middle off of Tanner Franklin. The Vols regained their cushion in the seventh inning when Curley singled to center to score Fischer and Ensley.
Peebles was ejected in the eighth inning after striking out, so the junior catcher will miss the super regional opener.
“Their catcher celebrated the strikeout as he should,” Vitello said. “We are in a regional. Cannon said something back to him as he should not.”
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com.
