The Vols that Tennessee fans saw during the regular season were back Saturday afternoon.
Tennessee crushed Notre Dame in a win-or-go-home scenario, launching four long balls in the fifth inning to clinch a 12-4 victory.
Sophomore pitcher Chase Dollander was fantastic for the Vols, as were seniors Luc Lipcius and Evan Russell. The duo contributed four of the Vols’ 14 hits on the day.
With the win, Tennessee forces a Game Three on Sunday for a chance at a second-straight College World Series appearance.
Here are three things we learned from Tennessee’s series-evening effort in Game Two.
Dollander deals, keeps the bullpen fresh for Game Three
Chase Dollander struggled against the hot bats of Campbell last week. That wasn’t the case Saturday.
The SEC Pitcher of the Year was on fire in his seven innings of work against the ho-hum bats of the Fighting Irish. Dollander threw 112 total pitches, striking out five and allowing just five hits, zero walks and two runs to cross. It’s just the fourth time this year Dollander has thrown 100+ pitches in one outing, his first since early April.
There’s only one way to put it: The Vols needed a herculean performance from Dollander Saturday, and they got just that.
It breaks a streak of three straight poor performances from Tennessee’s starting pitchers this postseason. The Vols were outscored 11-1 in the first three innings during those three games.
Tennessee will now have more options at pitcher for Sunday’s lose-or-go-home matchup. SEC Freshman of the Year Drew Beam and perennial Friday starter Chase Burns are available to throw, as are Redmond Walsh and Kirby Connell out of the bullpen.
Mark McLaughlin pitched a strong final two innings against Notre Dame, allowing two hits and two runs to cross while striking out three.
Bats come alive in the fifth
Tennessee unleashed on Notre Dame in the fifth inning.
Luc Lipcius, who struggled in his at-bats against the Fighting Irish in Game One, smacked a leadoff home run to deep center to up the Vols’ lead to two. It was No. 38 for Lipcius’ career, tying Evan Russell and Todd Helton for Tennessee’s all-time record.
For about five minutes. Evan Russell wasted no time snatching back the record, smacking a solo shot seemingly into the Tennessee river to claim the outright title at 39 career home runs.
Tennessee was just getting started. Those weren’t the only long balls of the frame for the Vols.
A few at-bats later, Lipcius decided he wanted a share of the home run record back. The Vols’ automatic first baseman scored Christian Moore and Christian Scott in an instance of déjà vu, launching another shot to deep center field. The three-run blast represented Tennessee’s fourth and final long ball of the frame.
Jordan Beck joined in on the fun after Lipcius and prior to Russell, scoring Cortland Lawson and Seth Stephenson with a three-run nuke to left.
The Fighting Irish finally got out of the inning with a Seth Stephenson fly-out to right, but the damage was done. Tennessee dropped eight total runs on seven hits – respectively eclipsing and equaling their totals from Friday night in one frame.
Lipcius, Russell duel for home run record
Let’s take a bit to ponder how ridiculous Luc Lipcius and Evan Russell’s fifth inning was.
It was likely the Vols’ most important of the postseason to this point. Not only did it break or tie two all-time records, but it also chased Notre Dame’s ace, John Michael Bertrand, much earlier than Irish head coach Link Jarrett would have preferred.
Tennessee is now 26-1 when it hits three or more home runs on the day. Lipcius and Russell did that in one inning.
Both Russell and Lipcius have struggled in the postseason to this point. The duo was a combined for 5-23 from the plate in four previous games. Saturday, they combined for four hits, four runs, three home runs and five RBI.
Lipcius cashed his third hit of the day in the seventh inning. He finished 3 for 4 with three RBI.
The Vols need consistency from their No. 1 and No. 2 all-time home run sluggers if another College World Series berth is to be achieved, but they won’t be expected to do it alone. Tennessee will return cleanup hitter Drew Gilbert in Game Three after he was ejected in Game One when he threw a few choice words to the home plate umpire.
Tennessee will vie for a spot in Omaha Sunday at 1 p.m. EST.
