Tennessee Wins Super Regional Series From LSU
The 2021 college baseball season came to an end for the LSU Tigers on Sunday afternoon, and with it came an end to Paul Mainieri's 15-year stint as head coach.
LSU fell to the Tennessee Volunteers, 15-6, at Lindsey Nelson Stadium in Knoxville, Tennessee in the second game of a best-of-three NCAA Super Regional Series.
Tennessee, the number three National Seed, won the series after capturing the first game of the series from the Tigers on Saturday night, 4-2.
The Volunteers, who defeated LSU in all five matchups between the two squads this season, now advance to the College World Series.
The game marked the last for Mainieri as LSU's head coach after he announced late last month that he was retiring at the end of the season.
The 63-year old Mainieri, who took over as head coach of LSU prior to the 2007 season, guided the Tigers to a national championship in 2009.
Mainieri, whose collegiate career spanned 39 seasons, also guided LSU to four SEC titles and six SEC Tournament crowns.
LSU appeared in the NCAA Tournament for the ninth straight time and for the 33rd time in program history.
The Tigers also appeared in their 15th Super Regional while winning nine of them.
LSU, which has never won a Super Regional on the road, now has an 18-15 (.563) all-time record in NCAA Super Regional games, including a 17-9 record at home and a 1-7 mark on the road.
The Tigers have six national championships (1991, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2009) to their credit, the second-most in NCAA history, while posting an all-time record of 161-68 in the NCAA Tournament.
Tennessee never trailed, scoring two runs in the top half of the first inning, before LSU answered with a run of its own.
After the two teams traded runs in the third inning, the Volunteers plated two more runs in the top half of the fourth inning, which gave them a 5-2 lead.
Tennessee broke things open in the top half of the sixth inning, scoring six runs, which extended its advantage to 11-2.
The Tigers, refusing to go away, scored two runs in the bottom half of the 6th inning, and then to more in the bottom half of the 7th, which cut the deficit to 11-6.
The Volunteers put the game completely away late, however, adding two insurance runs in the top half of the 8th inning, and then two more in the top of the 9th, to make it 15-6.
That was more than enough for Tennessee, as they went on to the 15-6 triumph, and win the series, 2-0, advancing to the College World Series in the process.
Tennessee, who outhit LSU, 12-7, was led at the plate by Jake Rucker, who went 3-for-5, including two home runs, to go along with three runs scored and four runs batted in, while Jordan Beck went 3-for-5, including a homer and three RBI's.
In a losing cause for LSU, Dylan Crews and Tre' Morgan each collected two hits and two RBI's.
Blade Tidwell recorded the win for Tennessee, allowing six runs on seven hits over 7.0 innings pitched.
Landon Marceaux suffered the loss for LSU, allowing three runs on three hits over 3.0 innings.
With the victory, Tennessee improved to 50-16 on the season, while LSU ended its season with a mark of 38-25.