In front of a sea of Orange, Tennessee would adventure into the valley of death to take on the Clemson Tigers in the winners’ bracket game on Saturday evening. As expected, Tennessee and Clemson delivered in an instant classic for the ages, as the winner would be one win away from winning the Clemson Regional and advancing to play in the Super Regionals.

Clemson and Tennessee failed to decide the game in 9 innings. It took 14 complete innings for the Tennessee Volunteers to come out on top 6-5.

Tennessee showed the rest of the country what it takes to be considered one of the best teams in college baseball. Unlike their counterparts at Clemson, Tennessee used just three pitchers on Saturday night in their win over Clemson. Leaving; valuable arms in the pen, providing Tennessee with flexibility on Sunday as the Volunteers try for a Regional Championship.

On the other side, Clemson used ten pitchers on Saturday and still lost 6-5 and now faces the harsh reality of an elimination game against Charlotte on Sunday. Sure, Saturday’s game went into extra innings, but using ten pitchers in a loss raises the red flag of false hope for the Clemson Tigers. To reach a Super Regional, Clemson has to win three games over the next 24 hours, including two on Sunday. Not impossible, but given they would have to beat Tennessee twice when the Volunteers have more arms available might be too much for Clemson to overcome.

Given how hot the Volunteers are right now, one would imagine that Tennessee will likely win the one remaining game to reach another Super Regionals for the third time in three years. Coming into the 2023 NCAA Tournament, some warned novice college baseball fans that Tennessee had the talent to get hot and maybe reach the 2023 College World Series.

We saw the talent difference and poise and needed to make an NCAA Tournament run on Saturday night. In the top half of the 14th inning, Hunter Ensley would nail a double to right field, scoring Maui Ahuna to give the Volunteers the 6-5 advantage over Clemson. As great as that play was, that would eventually close the deal for Tennessee. The Tennessee pitching staff gave Head Coach Tony Vitello the needed boost to secure the win and leave fresh arms for Sunday and Monday if needed. At this point in the season, keeping guys fresh and healthy is the name of the game. Crazy can happen in the NCAA Tournament, but Tennessee has a clear advantage as the Volunteers look to secure the Regional Championship on Sunday against the winner of Clemson and Charlotte.

Tennessee gets to sleep in on Sunday as they await the winner of Clemson and Charlotte at 6:00 EST.