KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – On Monday, June 2, the Wake Forest Demon Deacons and Tennessee Volunteers faced off in a winner-take-all regional final at Lindsey Nelson Stadium. Tennessee won the regional championship as they defeated Wake Forest 11-5.
Wake Forest got the scoring started in the second inning with a two-run home run by Matt Conte.
Manny Marin, Andrew Fischer Home Runs Extend Lead – However, Tennessee responded by loading the bases in the third and fourth innings. This would lead to eight runs and give Tennessee the lead.
A double play ball, wild pitch, and Reese Chapman infield RBI scored three runs. After that, a three-run home run by freshman Manny Marin and a two-run home run by Andrew Fischer made it 8-2.
It was Fischer’s 24th home run of the season as he leads the Volunteers in long balls this year.
Marin discussed his home run postgame and how that moment was for him.
“It felt good,” Marin said. “It’s where I wanted to be: the moment. It is why you come to Tennessee.”
Wake Forest came in and responded with a two-run home run by Matt Scannell. This cut the Tennessee lead in half and made it an 8-4 game in the fifth inning.
Austin Hawke followed that up with an RBI knock and cut the Tennessee lead down to 8-5.
Tennessee did not let that faze them as Dean Curley came through with a base hit that scored two runs. This made it a 10-5 game in the seventh inning.
Tennessee Pitching Records 16 Strikeouts as a Staff – All five Tennessee pitchers who made appearances recorded a strikeout in the game. Starting pitcher AJ Russell, freshman Brayden Krenzel, and Tanner Franklin all had three strikeouts apiece.
Dylan Loy contributed with two strikeouts in the game.
Liam Doyle did phenomenally in closing out the game, as he had five strikeouts in 2 and 1/3 innings.
The left-hander just threw 100-plus pitches in his start against the Miami (Ohio) Redhawks.
The strikeouts from all five players led to a total of 16 for the Tennessee pitching staff in the regional-winning game.
Wake Forest head coach Tom Walter talked about the challenge that his team faced with the pitching performance the Volunteers had as a whole.
“The guys we faced strike out a lot of hitters,” Walter said. “We certainly needed to do a better job of getting the ball in play, but it is easier said than done against that pitching staff.”
Up Next – For the super regional round, the Tennessee Volunteers will now head to Fayetteville to play the Arkansas Razorbacks in a best two-out-of-three series. The winner of next weekend’s play will go to Omaha for the College World Series.
Photo: Andrew Fischer homered in the final game of the Knoxville Regional to send Tennessee to its fifth straight Super Regional. (AP Photo/John Amis)
