In front of a raucous Pete Taylor Park in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, Southern Miss; and Tennessee met in a winner-take-all-game three. The winner would be heading to Omaha to take on LSU on Saturday of the 2023 College World Series, and the loser would face another harsh elimination from the NCAA Tournament. Plus potentially be the end of a legendary career if Southern Miss were to lose on Monday night.

Tennessee came into the 2023 Hattiesburg Super Regional; pissed off that the selection committee had selected Pete Taylor Park to host rather than Lindsey Nelson in Knoxville. Right or wrong, Southern Miss and Tennessee put together a three-game classic for baseball fans.

Following a five-hour rain delay, Pete Taylor Park on the campus of Southern Miss was the place to be for a classic between the Volunteers and Golden Eagles.

Tennessee jumped out on Southern Miss with a 1-0 lead in the bottom half of the 2nd inning. Then in the bottom half of the 5th inning, it was the man himself, Zane Denton, with a monster three-run shot to deep center field to make it 4-0 Volunteers. Adding to the flood of Volunteers’ insurance runs was Maui Ahuna in the bottom half of the 7th inning with a solo shot to left center field to make it 5-0 Volunteers.

Adding to the crazy offensive explosion was the ridiculous Tennessee pitching. Drew Beam got the start, giving the Volunteers six full innings of scoreless baseball. Beam finished the day with seven strikeouts. Drew Beam gave the Tennessee Volunteers the added cushion needed to keep the Golden Eagles of Southern Miss from getting into any rhythm. Tennessee would then bring in the heat in Chase Burns during the top half of the 7th inning to finish the Golden Eagles and send the Volunteers to the 2023 College World Series. Burns would topple the radar gun with a fastball reaching 102 on the gun. Burns proved to be too much for the Golden Eagles to overcome.

With three outs separating the Volunteers from the 2023 College World Series, the Tennessee faithful in attendance started to make some noise as the realization set in that the Volunteers would be returning to the College World Series for the first time since 2021. Tennessee will play LSU on Saturday night in game one of the 2023 College World Series.