KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – No. 14 Tennessee is Super Regional bound once again after defeating Wake Forest, 11-5, in a decisive seventh game of the NCAA Knoxville Regional on Monday night at a raucous Lindsey Nelson Stadium.
A seven-run explosion in the fourth inning was the difference as the Volunteers won their fifth consecutive regional to secure a spot in this weekend’s NCAA Fayetteville Super Regional against No. 3 seed Arkansas.
UT’s fourth-inning outburst was punctuated with a pair of home runs from Manny Marin and Andrew Fischer to break the game wide open and send the sellout crowd into a frenzy. Marin’s three-run shot to right-center field was just his third of the season while Fischer’s two-run blast was his team-leading 24th long ball.
Marin, a true freshman, had his best game of the season, finishing 3-for-3 with two runs and three RBIs to lead Tennessee (46-17) at the plate.
The Vols’ got key outings out of a handful of different pitchers on Monday night, starting with junior righthander AJ Russell, who got the starting nod and struck out three batters over 1.2 innings to get things rolling.
Freshman righty Brayden Krenzel pitched the next 2.2 frames, allowing just one hit while striking out three to earn his third win of the year.
Dylan Loy and Tanner Franklin followed, allowing just one run on two hits over the next 2.1 innings before handing the ball off to Liam Doyle. The junior ace took it from there, retiring the final seven Wake Forest hitters on the game in order while striking out five of them to earn his first save of the season.
Doyle Breaks UT Single-Season Strikeout Record
With his five punchouts on the night, Doyle moved past Vols’ legend Luke Hochevar as the program’s single-season strikeout leader with 158, breaking Hochevar’s 2005 record of 154.
Tennessee NCAA Regional Dominance
With Monday’s victory, Tennessee improved to 18-3 in NCAA regional play under head coach Tony Vitello and has now won five consecutive regionals (2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025). The Vols are 16-1 in home regional games since Vitello arrived on Rocky Top, as well.
UT had four players voted onto the Knoxville All-Regional team, led by Doyle, who was also named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player after going 1-0 and recording a save in two appearances. The Derry, New Hampshire, native pitched nine innings and allowed just one earned run on four hits while striking out 16 batters.
Fischer (1B), Dean Curley (2B) and Marin (3B) were also named to the all-regional team.
Up Next
The Big Orange will head back to Fayetteville for a rematch against the Razorbacks in this weekend’s super regional. Arkansas won two of three games against Tennessee in the final series of the regular season at Baum-Walker Stadium just a few weeks ago.
The schedule for all eight of the NCAA super regionals will be announced on Tuesday morning at 10 a.m. (ET) via a press release and the NCAA Baseball social media channels.
