More national seeds take it on the chin in first game action last night with Auburn taking game 1 from Oregon St and UConn taking game 1 from Stanford. Those Huskies have some live bats! We'll see if those home teams can bounce back today... Many tickets will be punched today as well to start filling out the Omaha bracket.
Sorry for being silent for so long. Tennessee has one weakness that can be exploited: believing in pitchers’ abilities and refusing to pull the plug on days when they can’t consistently hit the strike zone. Game 1 was evidence of that weakness. Notre Dame took advantage of that weakness. To their credit, ND was impressive in that 1st inning… so impressive that Tennessee couldn’t overcome when they had been victorious in their previous two games with similar deficits against the Camels and the yellow jackets. After losing our star center fielder to a stupid move on his part, some of Vol Nation were sure the Vols were done. All of ESPN had that same opinion. Believers knew that this team doesn’t have one leader. They lead by a committee of 9… the team members on the field that day. Game 2 was a complete turnaround. Our pitching was dead on so the weakness didn’t show. The 4 home runs in the 5th inning to drive the score to 9 - 0 in favor of the Vols was the dagger. Game 3 today at 1pm Eastern. Keys: 1) ESPN is talking up the two possible pitchers for the Vols. If the starter is off his game, he must be pulled early. We have 2 starters that ND hasn’t seen. We have 2 relievers that could be in a lot of SEC rotations. 2) The Vol bats heated up after the loss in game 1. They must stay hot today. The team showed anger in their swings that I haven’t seen for a while. The bat spike by Jordan Beck after his homer in the 5th showed the never die attitude of this team. May the best team win today.
This third game is now moving into the top of the 7th. Tennessee is up 3 - 1 but that is WAY too close. Go Vols!!!!!
A little closer now as the Irish just hit a 2 run homer to right. Tied 3-3. OU is smacking Va Tech 8-2 in the 6th. UNC and Arkansas at 0-0 in some kind of weather delay.
I spoke too soon... the Irish go yard back to back, now lead 4-3 with Tenn looking at a pitching change.
New game. ND with back to back home runs to go up by 1 with a score of 4 - 3 Irish. Burns was at 83 pitches taking the mound in the 7th. That was a huge gamble when he has only gone that far once this year. I said this was the one weakness and it bit us. Relief pitcher threw one pitch that got the final out in the inning. Now to start the recovery.
Excellent game Irish. You are now up 3 and although not an insurmountable lead, it is going to be a hole that is difficult at best.
Vols down to 3 outs. Will be a tense 9th. OU has added a run and up 9-2 in the 7th. #4 seed Va Tech better get on their horse if they want to make things interesting. Ark and UNC have resumed, still 0-0 in the 3rd.
Wow... the #1 seed curse lives on. ND should have been a regional host for sure... and have pushed through that snub to be the second team to punch a ticket to Omaha. Congrats Irish fans.
Congratulations to Notre Dame for a stellar baseball season and advancing to the the College World series. I had very little confidence you could win this afternoon.
Who was the last #1 overall seed to make it to Omaha? Great win by the Irish, grit and heart. Punched our Ticket to Omaha. Last time we went was after we went to Tallahassee and beat #1 Seed FSU.
Vols had a great season, and a great team. I heard that they have 3 players who will go in the 1st round of the MLB draft later this summer. Terrific season for them, but this is playoff baseball and the best teams in the regular season sometimes just don't make it. Still one of the great seasons by a college baseball team in quite awhile.
The curse is more about winning the Natty than getting to Omaha. The last time the #1 did it was 1999.
Longhorns it is. Texas will make a second straight CWS appearance and record 38th overall after getting out to a big lead early and routing East Carolina 11-1. Ivan Melendez hit his nation-best 32nd homer and Tristan Stevens pitched six strong innings for the Longhorns. The Pirates have made the most tournament appearances (32) without advancing to the CWS.
Texas will play Notre Dame in the opening round in Omaha. The Fighting Irish topped No. 1 Tennessee to advance out of the Knoxville super regional. The Longhorns have made three College World Series under Pierce in his first six seasons. After reaching the national semifinals during the 2021 College World Series, Pierce has intentions on delivering a seventh national title to the Longhorn baseball program. Championship No. 7 would place Texas second all time in national championships behind Southern Cal. The program has now reached the College World Series 11 times in the super regional era, which began in 1999. The 38th appearance is an all-time record. Texas is also first in games won in the College World Series, games won in the NCAA tournament, and in NCAA tournament appearances, The College World Series begins on Friday, June 17. The championship series begins on Saturday, June 25.