A program that couldn't even qualify for the 12-team Southeastern Conference tournament when fourth-year coach Tony Vitello was hired is now headed to the greatest eight-team extravaganza in college baseball.
Tennessee's rapid ascension under Vitello reached its highest mark Sunday, when the Volunteers polished off LSU 15-6 inside Lindsey Nelson Stadium to sweep the NCAA super regional over the six-time national champion. The Vols rolled to their 50th victory against just 16 defeats and punched their ticket to the College World Series, which starts next weekend in Omaha, Nebraska.
This is Tennessee's fifth journey to the College World Series and the first since 2005, with the Vols failing to reach the 64-team NCAA tournament in the 13 consecutive years that followed their last CWS trip.
"We never talked about Omaha a ton," Vitello said on a Zoom call after whipping the Tigers, "but it was like, 'We've got to get a little bit better. We've got to repaint our weight room. We've got to fix this closet in the hall.' - as crazy as that sounds, it's kind of just been an inch by inch thing."
There have been times this season in which Tennessee has inched its way to victory, but Sunday wasn't one of them.
The Vols punished LSU pitchers by hitting six home runs, with Jake Rucker going deep twice and with Jordan Beck, Drew Gilbert, Connor Pavolony and Evan Russell clearing the wall as well. Rucker's two-run homer to left-center field in the top of the first inning provided a quick 2-0 lead, with LSU's Dylan Crews cutting the deficit in half later in the first with his first of two blasts.
Rucker and Crews exchanged solo shots in the third, but Tennessee's 3-2 advantage became 5-2 in the fourth on Pavalony's two-run homer. Beck provided the biggest blast with a three-run drive to left in the fifth that made it 9-2, and Tennessee's eventual 15 runs set a program record for a super regional contest.
"I think our kids showed up with the right mentality today," Vitello said. "They were certainly focused, but they were also relaxed."
When Rucker recorded the final out of the game by catching a liner at third, a dog pile quickly ensued. Vitello was happy to report it was an injury-free celebration.
"It was a surreal moment," Russell said. "You've got 30 guys in that locker room who would do anything for each other. This is a family, and I don't know that it gets closer than this."
Said Rucker: "So many emotions and so many chills went through our bodies."
Tennessee became the first team to defeat LSU five times in the same season since the 1984 Mississippi State Bulldogs, who had sluggers Will Clark and Rafael Palmeiro and pitchers Jeff Brantley and Bobby Thigpen on their roster. LSU concluded the Paul Mainieri era with a 38-25 record, with the Tigers having reached a super regional a whopping nine times in Manieri's 15 seasons.
Mainieri led LSU to the 2009 national championship and to a runner-up finish in 2017, but he was following the footsteps of Skip Bertman, who guided the program to its first five NCAA crowns.
"The new coach has to know that there is a lot expected of him here," said Mainieri, who last month announced he would retire once this season ended for the Tigers. "It's an awesome fan base, and there are a lot of people who care about LSU baseball. You have a lot of resources and a great administration, but you have to be confident in yourself, and you can't listen to the criticism too much and let it change you.
"You have to do it your way, and I've tried to do that without being arrogant with people. The criticism can sometimes hurt, but it's because people are passionate about the program, so you can't take it personally."
Sunday marked Tennessee's final game this season at Lindsey Nelson Stadium. The Vols won their two super regional contests before a combined crowd of 8,827, but Vitello doesn't want the orange to disappear.
"The teams that have success in Omaha, like the team we just beat, bring a whole bunch of people," Vitello said. "This is a special thing."
Odds and ends
Rucker became Tennessee's seventh different player this season with at least one game with multiple homers. Tennessee starter Blade Tidwell won his 10th game, allowing Tidwell and Chad Dallas (11 wins) to become the first tandem with double-digit wins since Luke Hochevar (15) and James Adkins (10) in 2005. Former Cleveland High School standout Camden Sewell worked a 1-2-3 eighth for the Vols in eight pitches.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524. Follow him on Twitter @DavidSPaschall.