OMAHA, NE. — Tennessee baseball’s pitching performance in its College World Series opener against LSU was good enough to be competitive against nearly all eight teams in the field. But not against Paul Skenes and the Tigers.
The LSU ace dominated Tennessee in 7.2 innings pitched as the Tigers earned a 6-3 victory over the Vols.
Here’s everything to know about Tennessee’s College World Series opener.
The Paul Skenes Problem
From the moment the NCAA Tournament bracket came out there was a glaring problem for Tennessee if they made it to the College World Series.
It was the Paul Skenes problem.
LSU boasts an elite offense with its pitching depth being its weakness. But its biggest strength is ace Paul Skenes and the junior was dominant against the Vols Saturday night as he has been for the vast majority of the season.
Skenes posted 7.2 innings of two run baseball, allowing just six baserunners while striking out 12 Vols.
Tennessee had limited success against Skenes in the first inning. Hunter Ensley singled and Jared Dickey roped a liner right at third baseman Tommy White as the Vols made the nation’s top pitcher throw 20 pitches.
But Skenes got into a groove from there. He struck out the next four Vols he faced as Tennessee didn’t threaten against him until late in the game. The Vols didn’t put a runner in-scoring position against Skenes until the eighth inning.
Skenes was the problem Tennessee didn’t have an answer for Saturday night.
More From RTI: Play-By-Play From Tennessee’s College World Series Opener Against LSU
A Short Outing For Andrew Lindsey
With Paul Skenes on the mound for LSU, Tennessee needed an elite pitching performance to stay even with the Tigers.
Lindsey wasn’t bad for Tennessee but he wasn’t elite either as LSU ran him from the game in the fourth inning.
Gavin Dugas opened the scoring with a long solo home run in the second inning and back-to-back singles followed by a pair of groundouts brought another run home in the third inning.
When a one-out walk and double gave LSU two runners in-scoring position with one-out in the fourth inning, Tony Vitello got his bullpen hot. Lindsey struck out Jordan Thompson for out number two but the Vols’ head coach had a quick trigger, ending his day in favor of Aaron Combs.
Combs struck out Josh Pearson to get out of the fourth inning as the two strikeouts proved critical to keeping Tennessee in striking distance.
LSU totaled two runs and five hits off Lindsey in 3.2 innings. It wasn’t an awful outing for Lindsey — who threw just 72 pitches — but it wasn’t the elite outing Tennessee needed to match Skenes.
Tennessee Shows Late Game Fight
Tennessee was all but buried when its offense went to work in the eighth inning. The Vols hadn’t put a runner in-scoring position when Christian Scott’s one-out double did just that.
Maui Ahuna did what Tennessee had been longing to do, winning a long battle with Skenes and running him from the game on a two-out RBI single up the middle.
Scoring one run was a nice showing of fight from Tennessee but it seemed inconsequential even though it ended Skenes night.
Hunter Ensley made it consequential, hammering a two-run home run to center field. It was Ensley’s third hit of the game and pulled Tennessee within two runs and back within striking distance. Tennessee even brought the tying run to the plate in the eighth inning after Jared Dickey singled but Christian Moore went down looking to end the inning.
LSU added another insurance run in the bottom of the eighth to extend its lead back to three runs before the Vols got just one runner on base in the ninth inning.
Final Stats
Up Next
Tennessee is on the brink of elimination. They’ll face Stanford at 2 p.m. ET Monday afternoon from Charles Schwab Field.
