Life in the Valley

UE Must Beat Tennessee 2 Straight to Advance to Omaha

It turns out, the Tennessee Volunteers are as good as advertised.

The #1 national seeded Vols defeated the Evansville Purple Aces, 11-6, Friday afternoon in Game 1 of the Knoxville Super Regional. The victory moves Tennessee to within one win of advancing to the College World Series for the 3rd time in 4 years and 7th time overall.

The numbers behind the win might lave some blown away but for the Vols, it was very much their usual offensive performance. The 11 runs were only 2 more than their season average, while the 6-run margin of victory is less than a run larger than usual for Tennessee. Evansville’s 6 runs were more than UT is accustomed to giving up, however, and it was enough to keep the Purple Aces within an ear shot even in the 9th inning, when UE scored 1 run to cut the deficit to 5 and loaded the bases to threaten a huge inning, but were unable to capitalize.

True to form, Tennessee hit 4 home runs (they now have 163 on the season to lead the country), but true to form, the Purple Aces never gave up. The biggest homer of the quartet, however, might have come in the 7th inning, with Tennessee (54-11) holding to an 8-5 lead against the upset-minded Purple Aces. Hunter Ensley’s 3-run homer gave Tennessee some breathing room at 11-5. Ensley had 3 hits and 4 RBIs in the win. Billy Amick also had 3 of Tennessee’s 9 hits, scoring 3 times.

The Vols were probably thankful for the breathing room because up until that point, UE (38-25) had been a pesky opponent. After Blake Burke homered in the bottom of the 1st to open the scoring, Cal McGinnis immediately answered back for Evansville in the 2nd, launching a 2-run shot that gave the Purple Aces the lead, with Chase Hug scoring in front of McGinnis.

A pair of Tennessee homers, off the bats of Christian Moore (his 30th of the season) and Amick in the 3rd inning gave UT the lead again at 4-2.

UE trailed 5-2 in the 5th when the Purple Aces agains showed they weren’t going away. Kip Fougerousse’s double scored Simon Scherry and Ty Rumsey to make it 5-4, and was followed by Hug’s RBI single that plated Fougerousse with the tying run. Halfway home and it was 5-5, and more importantly, it was anybody’s game.

But Tennessee finally ousted UE standout and Missouri Valley Conference Freshman of the Year Kenton Deverman in the bottom of the 6th. Deverman left with 2 outs in the 5th and was charged with 8 runs (7 earned) on 6 hits with 3 walks and 2 strikeouts over 89 pitches (an uncharacteristic 6.36 pitches per out, but UE doesn’t play Tennessee every day, either). Shane Harris threw 2 1/3 innings in relief and threw 44 pitches – he’s probably available tomorrow if needed with the Purple Aces’ season on the line. Jakob Meyer pitched a scoreless 8th with 2 strikeouts.

A.J. Causey, who threw 4 2/3 innings in relief after UT starter Chris Stamos left in the 2nd (he had struck out the side in the 1st), got the win to improve to 13-3 on the season. Deverman fell to 9-2. Kirby Connell (2 IP) and Aaron Combs (1 IP) finished things off for Tennessee.

Scherry, Hug, and McGinnis all had 2 hits each for Evansville, which also had 9 hits. Hug and McGinnis joined Fougerousse with doubles, giving UE the most in the nation with 157 – 1 ahead of Austin Peay, whose season is complete.

Donovan Schultz (6-2, 5.84) figures to get the start on Saturday in Game 2. Max Hansmann is fresh and could be called upon for mid to long relief if necessary. UE must win Saturday to save its season and keep its Omaha dream alive.

Knoxville Super Regional – Game 1 (best-of-3)
UE 6 9 1 (38-25)
UT 11 9 1 (54-11)
W: Causey (13-3)
L: Deverman (9-2)
S: None
HR: McGinnis, UE (5); Moore, UT (30); Burke, UT (18); Amick, UT (22); Ensley, UT (10).