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Tennessee defeated LSU 4-3 in the SEC Tournament title game on Sunday afternoon, capping off a great week for the Vols in Hoover.
For Tennessee, it means sweeping the SEC regular season and tournament championships this season. Tennessee also accomplished that feat back in 2022 — the last SEC program to do it.
2024 SEC TOURNAMENT CHAMPS!! pic.twitter.com/5lbPwCOmbU
— Tennessee Baseball (@Vol_Baseball) May 26, 2024
Tennessee held off a late LSU rally to get this win. The Vols entered the 9th inning with a 4-1 lead, but LSU scored twice following a couple of defensive miscues by Tennessee. However, with the tying run on second base, Aaron Combs was able to secure back-to-back strikeouts to end the threat and give Tennessee the title.
The big hit for the Vols in this game happened in the 3rd inning when Billy Amick deposited a 3-run home run beyond the fence in left field. Tennessee later tacked on 1 more run in the 7th inning, which ultimately proved to be the difference.
The most significant defensive play of this game arguably came in the 6th inning when catcher Cal Stark picked off LSU’s Steven Milam at first base. The Tigers had loaded the bases before Milam was back-picked with 2 outs, ending the inning.
Much was made about Tennessee’s depleted pitching staff, but the Vols limited LSU to its lowest offensive output all week. AJ Russell got the start in his second appearance back from injury, but threw just 1 inning. Tennessee used a total of 5 pitchers, with freshman Dylan Loy doing most of the heavy-lifting: 4.2 innings, 2 hits, 2 walks, 0 earned runs and 5 strikeouts.
Tennessee has a case to be the No. 1 overall seed in this year’s NCAA Tournament. The bracket will be revealed at 12 p.m. ET on Monday.
Spenser is a news editor for Saturday Down South and covers college football across all Saturday Football brands.
