KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — No. 1 Tennessee took Game 1 of the NCAA Tournament Super Regional against Evansville 11-6 on Friday inside Lindsey Nelson Stadium.
Chris Stamos only pitched 0.1 innings in his Regional start as he struggled against Northern Kentucky. He came out and struck the first three Evansville batters to start the Super Regional.
In the bottom of the first inning, the Vols got on the scoreboard with a thud of the bat. Blake Burke hit a solo home run to right field for a 1-0 lead.
Evansville responded in the top of the second inning by taking the lead on a thud of their own. Cal McGinnis hit a two-run home run to put them up 2-1. Stamos was taken out of the game after that. AJ Causey came in to pitch.
The Vols ended the top of the third inning with some fireworks. Causey dealt up a strikeout and then Cal Stark rifled a ball to first base and Burke tagged out the runner to end the half inning.
Tennessee retook the lead in the bottom of the third inning with a two-run home run. After Stark drew a walk, Christian Moore smacked one over the fence in right field. UT led 3-2.
Two at-bats later, Billy Amick left the yard with a solo home run to left field. Tennessee went up 4-2.
In the bottom of the fourth inning, Dean Curley brought in a run on a sacrifice fly that scored Hunter Ensley from third base for a 5-2 lead.
In the top of the fifth inning, the Purple Aces had a runner on first and third base with two outs. Kip Fougerousse doubled to left center field to bring in two runs and trim the deficit to 5-4. In the next at-bat, Chase Hug singled to tie the game at 5-5. The Vols ended the top of the fifth after that.
In the bottom of the fifth inning, Tennessee retook the lead. After Moore was walked, Burke doubled to score Moore as UT went up 6-5
Amick then chopped one down the third baseline line. He'd reach first base after a throwing error and then reached second. As a result, Burke scored from second base and UT led 7-5.
Amick advanced to second base after a groundout. Ensley singled to right field to bring Amick home as UT went up 8-5.
In the top of the sixth inning, Evansville got runners on second and third base with two outs. Causey punched a strikeout to get out of the danger, making his eighth strikeout of the game.
In the bottom of the seventh inning. Ensley hit a three-run home run to score Dylan Dreiling and Amick for an 11-5 lead.
Evansville scored a run in the top of the ninth inning to make it 11-6 and loaded the bases with no outs. Combs got an out dealing a strikeout. Then he struck out another batter. He then dealt a third in a row to end the game.
Tennessee and Evansville will play in Game 2 of the NCAA Tournament Super Regional at 11 a.m. on Saturday. The Vols are one win away from going to back-to-back College World Series.
