Tennessee baseball tops Clemson in wacky game to make regional final

CLEMSON, S.C. − Hunter Ensley had four strikeouts to his name in six at-bats Saturday. All was forgotten in the top of the 14th inning of a mad night in the Clemson Regional.

The Tennessee baseball outfielder laced a double into the right-center field gap, sending Maui Ahuna flying around the bases from first. Ahuna slid headfirst across the plate, Ensley making good on the earlier heroics delivered by Zane Denton and Chase Burns throughout the prior nine innings.

The No. 2 seed Vols topped top-seeded Clemson 6-5 in 14 innings at Doug Kingsmore Field, moving closer to a third straight regional title.

Tennessee (40-19) played Clemson (45-18) late Sunday after the Tigers beat Charlotte in an elimination game earlier in the day. The Tigers had won 17 straight games before Denton and the Vols sent them into the elimination bracket.

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The Vols were down to their final out in the ninth inning when Christian Moore singled to right. Blake Burke followed Moore with a single into right-center past a diving effort from second baseman Riley Bertram.

That chased Clemson starter Caden Grice and brought up Denton, who fell behind 0-2 with two outs. He watched two pitches before reaching down and slugging the fifth pitch for a three-run homer to put UT ahead 5-4. Clemson tied it in the bottom of the ninth on a two-out, two-strike single from Cam Cannarella, who also hit a three-run homer in the fifth.

Tennessee needed more heroics in the 10th after reliever Chase Burns loaded the bases with a single, walk, and hit-by-pitch − the latter two while batters tried to bunt. Burns struck out Blake Wright before getting Benjamin Blackwell to hit a soft grounder. Moore flipped to Ahuna, who threw to first baseman Ethan Payne, who had entered as a pinch-runner for Burke. Blackwell was ruled safe with a walk-off fielder's choice before review overturned it.

Seth Halvorsen finished Burns' relief effort with 3⅓ hitless innings. The Vols used three pitchers across 14 innings.

Tennessee had success against Charlotte left-hander Collin Kramer on Friday. It didn't fare so well against Clemson's lefty Grice, who was terrific.

Grice struck out 10 in 8⅔ innings. He allowed six hits and walked one. He allowed back-to-back ninth-inning singles with two outs, costing him a complete game. Clemson turned to Ryan Ammons, who allowed Denton's three-run homer.

Tennessee hit a pair of solo homers against Grice. Moore hit the first in the fourth, putting UT ahead 1-0. Denton hit one in the seventh to pull UT within 4-2.

Chase Dollander didn't have any 1-2-3 innings, but avoided major problems for the first four.

That changed in the fifth when he allowed an infield single and a hit before Cannarella slugged a three-run homer on a 1-2 pitch. Dollander allowed four runs on seven hits and two walks in 4⅓ innings. He struck out four.

Mike Wilson covers University of Tennessee athletics. Email him at [email protected] and follow him on Twitter @ByMikeWilson. If you enjoy Mike's coverage, consider a digital subscription that will allow you access to all of it.