Tennessee baseball puts on clinic to win Knoxville Regional

Tennessee baseball secured its spot in the super-regional round of the NCAA Tournament after its 12-3 win over Southern Miss. The Vols put together an offensive and defensive clinic throughout the game, picking apart a fresh USM pitching staff and flashing the leather across the diamond on defense. 

Tennessee's win over Southern Miss marks the second time in as many seasons the Vols have eliminated the Golden Eagles in the postseason. The Vols won the Hattiesburg Super Regional 2-1 against USM last year and took care of business in this year's Knoxville Regional, sweeping all three opponents. 

USM has wisely managed its bullpen and pitching staff throughout the regional. The Golden Eagles only used five arms through the first three games of regionals and advanced with one of the best-rested bullpens in the country. 

The Vols didn't let that affect how they approached opposing pitchers at the plate. Tennessee rattled USM's pitching, sending starter JB Middleton to the dugout after three and one-third innings. Tennessee's 12 runs are the most scored against USM since April 28, when Louisiana scored 13. That resulted in USM using seven pitchers throughout the game in an attempt to slow down the Vols. 

On the other hand, the Vols pitching staff allowed zero earned runs and only needed two pitchers to get through nine innings. Zander Sechrist started the game and allowed three runs, although none were earned, and went four and two-thirds innings before Nate Snead came in relief and finished the final four and one-third innings to secure the win. 

Thanks to some impressive defensive work from Tennessee defenders throughout the game, the pitching staff didn't have to stress. Christian Moore struggled at the plate but made up for it with several defensive gems at second base. 

Tennessee only needed ten hits to score 12 runs against the Golden Eagles, which was plenty good enough to secure the victory and advance to the super regionals, where the Vols will host the winner of the Greenville Regional. 

East Carolina and Evansville are the final two teams standing in Greenville. They will play a winner-take-all game on Monday to determine who will come to Knoxville for a three-game series with a spot in Omaha on the line.