Late Comeback Bid Falls Short in Loss to No. 5 LSU in CWS Opener

Saturday, June 17

Omaha, Neb.

7:40 PM

University of Tennessee

43-21

LSU

49-15

Tennessee

LSU

Hunter Ensley vs. LSU (June 17, 2023 CWS)

Late Comeback Bid Falls Short in Loss to No. 5 LSU in CWS Opener

June 17, 2023 | Baseball

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OMAHA, Neb. – A late-inning comeback attempt by Tennessee fell short in its 2023 Men's College World Series opener as the Volunteers fell to No. 5 national seed LSU, 6-3, on Saturday night in front of a sellout crowd of 25,010 at Charles Schwab Field in Omaha.

After trailing 5-0 going into the eighth, UT struck for three runs in the top half of the inning to cut the deficit to two. Christian Scott raced home on an RBI single by Maui Ahuna to get the Vols on the board before Hunter Ensley homered to left-center field to make it 5-3.

Ensley had a fantastic night at the plate, going 3-for-4 with a run and two RBIs, including two of the team's five hits against LSU ace Paul Skenes.

The junior right hander gave up two runs over 7.2 innings with 12 strikeouts while giving up just five hits and one walk to pick up the win.

Tennessee starter Andrew Lindsey was stuck with the loss after allowing two runs on five hits over 3.2 innings, finishing with four strikeouts and one walk issued.

Griffin Merritt and Scott had the only other hits for the Big Orange off of Skenes with a single in the fifth and a double in the eighth. Scott's one-out double to spark UT's eighth-inning rally was the first time Skenes and LSU allowed a runner to advance past first base.

Aaron Combs, Seth Halvorsen, Kirby Connell, Camden Sewell, Hollis Fanning and AJ Russell all saw action in relief, combining to pitch the final 4.1 innings. Sewell's appearance makes him the first player in program history to play in two separate College World Series. The veteran right hander appeared in both games during UT's 2021 trip to Omaha against Virginia and Texas.

Brayden Jobert led LSU at the dish with three extra-base hits, two runs and two RBIs, finishing a single short of the cycle.

Gavin Dugas opened the scoring with a solo home run to left field in second inning while Tre' Morgan also had a hit and a pair of RBIs for the Tigers.

UP NEXT: The Vols (43-21) will take on No. 8 national seed Stanford in an elimination game on Monday afternoon at 2 p.m. ET on ESPN. The Cardinal lost its opener to No. 1 Wake Forest, 3-2, on Saturday afternoon.