HATTIESBURG, Miss — Tennessee baseball is headed to the College World Series following a 5-0 win against Southern Mississippi on the road Monday in Game Three of the NCAA Tournament Super Regional.
The game was supposed to start at 6 p.m. but was delayed until 10:06 p.m. due to weather in Hattiesburg.
The Vols struck first in this game in the bottom of the second inning. Griffin Merritt drove home a run with an RBI single to put UT up 1-0.
In the bottom of the fifth inning, Zane Denton hit a three-run home run to put Tennessee up 4-0.
Starting pitcher Drew Beam went six innings and allowed seven hits, but no runs to go along with seven strikeouts.
After Beam came out with a runner on first and third base in the seventh inning, Aaron Combs got a strikeout. Then Chase Burns came in and delivered two strikeouts back-to-back. He dealt a 102 mph fastball to get the second strikeout and showed a lot of emotion after it.
Burns pitched 2.2 innings, didn't allow a run or hit and struck out four batters.
In the bottom of the seventh inning, Maui Ahuna hit a solo home run and Tennessee was up 5-0. That would be the final score.
The Vols were in the College World Series as recently as 2021. It's their second time in three seasons going to the CWS.
Tennessee will play LSU first over in Omaha on June 17. The game is scheduled for 7 p.m. and can be watched on ESPN. UT lost in a series this season on the road against LSU but did the series finale.
