It's David vs. Goliath For A Spot In The College World Series, Tennessee Looks To Avoid Giant Evansville Upset

KNOXVILLE, TN- Here we go, one game between the number-one ranked Tennessee Vols and the Evansville Purple Aces for a spot in the College World Series. A true David vs. Goliath story in college baseball. 

If you watched the first inning of Saturday's game between the two teams, most people were already thinking about this Tennessee team preparing for its first game in Omaha next week. But just as we saw in the East Carolina regional, this Evansville team is playing with nothing to lose, and it showed in the latter part of the game on Saturday afternoon. 

The Purple Aces trailed 4-0 after Tennessee destroyed three home-runs in the first inning, then added another run in the second. By all accounts, everything was going the way of the team in Smokey Gray uniforms. 

But as our national treasure Lee Corso would say, not so fast my friend. Facing a deficit, along with a crazy crowd in Knoxville, the Aces got to Vols starting pitcher Drew Beam, then had their way with the Tennessee bullpen. 

Tennessee and Evansville will go one more round tonight in Knoxville for a spot in the College World Series Via: Tennessee Athletics

Scoring ten runs in a span of three innings, Evansville gave itself enough cushion to force a deciding game three that will send one of these teams to Nebraska next week. You can call it a story of destiny, or that the slipper might fit on the Aces foot, but this team has found its way into the final game of the Super Regionals, after pulling off the same type of magic last weekend. 

Simply put, the Vols ran out of offense, or started to get timid as Evansville shuffled through the bullpen to secure the win. 

Will Knoxville History Repeat Itself Between Tennessee, Evansville?

Obviously, Tennessee is the number one overall seed for a reason, and haven't lost consecutive games since the Alabama series earlier this season. And yes, you can fire up the conversations about how the Vols choked in 2022 by losing to Notre Dame in the three-game series, with a Tennessee team that had turned into a national villain. 

But Tony Vitello wasn't worried about past regional appearances after losing to Evansville on Saturday, noting that his team was just focused on grabbing the second win of this Super Regional. What he was really saying, in my opinion, was that this team is nothing like the one in 2022, and you can rant all you want about past losses, but they’re only focused on themselves, not the opinion of others. 

Just as much as Evansville is feisty when it comes to offense, this Tennessee team can do the same, in just one inning. The entire college baseball world, outside of fans clad in orange, will be rooting on Cinderella tonight at 6pm ET. 

For Tennessee, they've been in this spot before, at the same venue, and they now have a chance to remind folks why they have the #1 by their name. As for Evansville, the Purple Aces are playing with house-money tonight, and all the pressure is on the Vols to not miss out on the trip to Omaha. 

Buckle up, we've got ourselves a massive game coming this evening, with plenty of storylines to follow.