Monday, June 19 – Game 1: Tennessee 6, No. 8 Stanford 4
Tennessee slips by Stanford (WBR / Williams) CLICK TO BUY
Omaha doesn’t produce all of college baseball’s legends. It just gives them a stage. With his team’s season on the line at Charles Schwab Field, Chase Burns took center position and never relinquished it. The sophomore fireman faced 20 batters and got 18 of them out, allowing just two singles over the final six innings while strikeout nine and walking none. He needed just 73 pitches to get the final 18 outs of the ballgame to extend Tennessee’s season. He poured ice-cold water on Stanford offense that had put together a handful of productive innings against a potential top 10 pick in the 2023 MLB Draft in right-hander Chase Dollander.
“Coming out of the bullpen, you’ve got one thing in mind — just do your job,” Burns said. “No fight is too big for us. I just went out there, did my job, and hoped for the best.”
In the back of everyone’s minds coming into the day was the edge the Vols in this matchup because of Burns and co. in that bullpen, but after the first four innings on Monday afternoon it looked like eighth-seeded Stanford was about to give Omaha its first laugher at the 2023 Men’s College World Series. They had a four-run cushion with the meat of their order on deck and ace left-hander Quinn Mathews — eight days removed from saving his team’s season with a legendary 16-strikeout, 156-pitch complete game — appeared to be on autopilot against Tennessee’s offense. Mathews had retired eight batters in a row — five via the strikeout — and needed only 14.3 pitches per inning to get through the first four frames. He had run support, rhythm, confidence, and every ounce of momentum that was up for grabs.
Then, seemingly out of the blue, the Volunteers turned the game on its head. Single, single, single, sac fly, single, single, single, four-pitch walk. Seven of the nine batters Mathews faced reached base, and four of them came around to knot things up and chase Stanford’s workhorse from the game with two outs on the board in the top of the fifth inning.
“I think we just started to calm down a little bit,” sophomore left fielder Jared Dickey said. “We realized we’re never out of the fight. I think we started to come together as a team like we always do later in the games.”
Dickey did his part to help change the game in the marathon top of the fifth. His one-out RBI single cut the deficit to 4-2 and he came around to plate the tying run on Christian Moore’s 2-run knock into center field.
A leadoff walk by Griffin Merrit and a one-out double by Blake Burke set the table for Tennessee in the top of the seventh. Zane Denton’s grounder to short scored Merritt, then they got a little help from Stanford as a wild pitch by reliever Brandt Pancer allowed Burke to come home for an insurance run. Chase Burns threw just 28 pitches after that to get the final nine outs of the ballgame. He retired the side in order in the fourth, fifth, seventh, eighth, and ninth to shut down any hope Stanford had of swinging the momentum back in their favor.
“I don’t know if they have a pitcher in their conference that’s like me,” Burns said. “They were putting good swings on my fastball — and slider, too. So I used all my pitches today to get ahead in the count and did the job.”
Burns didn’t produce any of the runs he needed to flip the game and give Tennessee the win, but head coach Tony Vitello said his work in retiring the last three hitters of the fourth inning after Stanford second baseman Drew Bowser chased Dollander with a leadoff single was the spark that lit the fuse for comeback.
“Since [Burns] started to come into games, instead of starting, he’s completely changed the vibe when he’s out there — the guys get energy from it,” Vitello said. “He’s a pro. Normally, when you get a freshman, they’re kind of out of sorts. They don’t have routines. I kept saying it last year because he kept doing great things last year. I had to answer a lot of questions about him. We didn’t know we were getting what we got his freshman year. And it’s more of a compliment to him than anything. We knew we were getting a great arm, great stuff. We were fortunate enough he decided to go to college instead of sign. But we didn’t know he was going to be that mature.
“He thinks he’s like an infielder or outfielder — he’s not that good — but his PFP was really good. His routines were already polished. He’s a pro. I think when he’s been asked to handle different situations, you know, he’s TBA last year in the Super Regional. But we start him, he goes seven innings and is incredible then. That falls under the umbrella of pro … but the rest, to be honest with you, I file under the category of he’s one of the best pitchers on the planet.”
Stanford season ends with a 44-20 record. Tennessee improved to 44-21 with the win.
Monday, June 19 – Game 2: No. 1 Wake Forest 3, No. 5 LSU 2
Wake Forest scores late to win (Juszyk / WBR) CLICK TO BUY
Wake Forest first two games at the Men’s College World Series since 1955 have been mirror images of each other. After beating rallying to beat Stanford 3-2 on Friday, the top-ranked Demon Deacons repeated the formula on Monday night against fifth-seeded LSU. Like on Friday, their starting pitcher grinded after getting touched up early to hand the ball to the late-inning core of relievers. Like on Friday, the offensive struggled early before breaking through late to take their only lead of the ball game in the bottom of the eighth inning. Like on Friday, closer Cam Minacci retired every hitter he faced via a bevy of ground balls to shut the door on any hopes their opponent may have had of a creating some late-inning magic of their own.
The result is a 2-0 record in Omaha and a day off to await the winner of Tuesday night’s elimination game between LSU and Tennessee.
“It was a really great baseball game,” Wake Forest head coach Tom Walter said. “Two really good college baseball teams battling it out. There was a lot of star power in that game, and it didn’t disappoint.”
The star power in this one was concentrated on the mound for first 5-6 innings. LSU junior right-hander Ty Floyd, a projected top 100 prospect in 2023, and Wake Forest sophomore lefty Josh Hartle, a top 25 prospect for 2024, baffled hitters for nearly two hours at Charles Schwab Field on Monday night. Floyd was undone when lost the zone in the sixth inning and walked the bases loaded to depart after 97 pitches. Prior to that, he looked like he might steal the spotlight from his teammate Paul Skenes, who was nails against Tennessee on Saturday night. Floyd allowed only two singles against the vaunted Demon Deacon lineup and ended up matching his career-high with 10 strikeouts.
His counterpart got touched up for two runs in the top of the third inning on an RBI single by third baseman Tommy White and an RBI “triple” by first baseman Tre’ Morgan that should have been a routine line out had Demon Deacon left fielder Adam Cecere not lost the ball in the sun as it was sinking towards him. Aside from that, the southpaw lasted six full innings, threw a career-high 107 pitches, and generated 17 whiffs on 35 swings to rack up nine strikeouts.
“I’m really proud of Josh Hartle and the way he battled,” Walter said. “Some things went against him there — a couple of walks here and there and a ball in left field which we probably make a play on and all of a sudden we are down 2-0. But he settled in and got us into the sixth inning there, which was huge to shorten the lead. It was kind of similar to Rhett Lowder’s outing the other day. It wasn’t a typical Josh Hartle outing, but he battled, and kept coming, kept making pitches when it mattered and kept the score where it was. Have our offense the time to get going.”
The going started in the bottom of the sixth inning. Sophomore center fielder Tommy Hawke fouled off three two-strike pitches from Ty Floyd to win a nine-pitch at-bat with a leadoff walk. Floyd didn’t appear to appreciate Hawke’s enthusiasm as he made his way down to first and it may have knocked him off is game. Floyd then uncorked an errant pick-off throw that allowed Hawke to move to second base and threw eight of next nine pitches out of the zone to load the bases and give way to right-handed reliever Thatcher Hurd. A base hit up the middle by Brock Wilken and a double play by Justin Johnson scored Hawke and pushed across an additional run to tie the game at 2-2. After a phenomenal play by Wilken and junior catcher Bennett Lee to nab LSU’s Tre’ Morgan at home plate preserved the tie, Lee followed a one-out double by Danny Corona with an RBI single through the left side of LSU’s infield to give the Demon Deacons a 3-2 lead. Minacci never let a whiff of a rally get started in the ninth as a struck out the first two batters before getting a ground ball right back to himself to close out another win at the 2023 Men’s College World Series in which Wake Forest first lead didn’t come until the bottom of the eighth inning.
Wake Forest improved to 54-10 with the victory. The loss dropped LSU to 49-16 on the season. The Demon Deacons now get Tuesday off and will face the winner of LSU/Tennessee on Wednesday.