SEC Baseball Championship 2024: Tennessee Wins vs. LSU for 2nd Title in 3 Years
May 26, 2024
The Tennessee Volunteers are the top-ranked team in the country for a reason.
After dropping its first game of the SEC Tournament, the Volunteers held strong and advanced to the Championship Game anyway. In that contest, some clutch hitting and solid pitching helped Tennessee claim a 4-3 victory over LSU.
Southeastern Conference @SEC2024 SEC TOURNAMENT CHAMPIONS<br><br>🟠 <a href="https://twitter.com/Vol_Baseball?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Vol_Baseball</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SECBSB?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#SECBSB</a> x <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SECTourney?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#SECTourney</a> <a href="https://t.co/tIIk4O5YRO">pic.twitter.com/tIIk4O5YRO</a>
It is the fifth conference championship in program history and the Volunteers first since 2022. It also came against the defending National Champions and gave the Volunteers another notch in the belt for its resume to be the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament.
LSU appeared poised to remain undefeated in the tournament after scoring the first run of the game. This came off the bat of Jared Jones, who demolished a breaking ball 471 feet for a solo home run.
This score would hold until the third inning when Billy Amick crushed a three-run home run to put the Volunteers in the lead.
Tennessee Baseball @Vol_BaseballWelcome back Billy Barrels!<br><br>📺 <a href="https://t.co/bCQ5fRVq0y">https://t.co/bCQ5fRVq0y</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/GBO?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#GBO</a> // <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/OTH?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#OTH</a> // <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BeatLSU?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#BeatLSU</a> <a href="https://t.co/KzjrdYu6Yv">pic.twitter.com/KzjrdYu6Yv</a>
Tennessee would add an insurance run in the seventh off an RBI single from Hunter Ensley.
Tennessee Baseball @Vol_BaseballHunter's having himself on of those days!<br><br>4-for-4 now for Mr. Clutch!<br><br>📺 <a href="https://t.co/bCQ5fRVq0y">https://t.co/bCQ5fRVq0y</a> (ESPN2)<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/GBO?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#GBO</a> // <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/OTH?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#OTH</a> // <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BeatLSU?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#BeatLSU</a> <a href="https://t.co/MxZaMNR7pg">pic.twitter.com/MxZaMNR7pg</a>
The key to the game for Tennessee was the relief performance from freshman southpaw Dylan Loy. He was the second Volunteer pitcher to take the mound and he delivered 4.2 innings with just two hits allowed and five strikeouts recorded.
Tennessee Baseball @Vol_BaseballB6 | Dylan Loy, hat tip to you young man! What a performance from the freshman lefty!<br><br>He'll hand the ball off to fellow lefthander Andrew Behnke with a runner on first and two outs after tossing a career high 4.2 scoreless innings with five strikeouts!<br><br>3-1 Vols<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/GBO?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#GBO</a> // <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/OTH?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#OTH</a> //… <a href="https://t.co/o1azHh8G8p">pic.twitter.com/o1azHh8G8p</a>
He took the victory and Aaron Combs earned the save in the victorious effort. This came despite a late charge from the Tigers that saw it tack on two runs and nearly pull-off the comeback.
Tennessee now will turn its attention to the aforementioned Division I tournament and should be considered a favorite to win it all in Omaha. While earning the top overall seed is a huge accomplishment, it's not necessarily the best omen for tournament success.
Only one national seed has won it all at the College World Series, the 1999 Miami Hurricanes. Tennessee will hope to curb this trend if it does indeed retain the No. 1 ranking, but many other programs will be eager to knock them down.
The fate of the Volunteers, Tigers and the rest of the SEC will be revealed Monday at noon E.T. at the NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament Selection Show.