Tennessee baseball resumes play at the College World Series on Sunday night when they face North Carolina at Charles Schwab Field in Omaha.
The victor stays in the winner’s bracket and is then one win away from advancing to the finals while the loser has to win three games in three days to advance to the finals.
Here the RTI staff’s predictions for Tennessee College World Series matchup against the Tar Heels.
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Jack Foster
Both teams enter this game with a lot of momentum coming off of walk-off wins on Friday. Emotions ran high in both of those games a couple of days ago, so it will be interesting to see how each side builds off of it.
North Carolina’s pitching staff has been really good all year and they have plenty of dudes ready to throw tonight. On the other hand, Tennessee needs Drew Beam to pitch deep into the game. I’d expect Connell and either Snead or Causey to come out of the pen for Tennessee, but Tony Vitello definitely doesn’t want to have to use all three.
It’s hard to pick against Tennessee’s offense. The Vols just had 18 hits against Florida State on a night in which the Seminoles threw their top arm and one of their top relievers.
Therefore, I’m going Tennessee simply because its offense is just too hot. It’s the best unit in all of college baseball. Vols get it done in a tight game that comes down to the wire.
Prediction: Tennessee 8, North Carolina 7
Ryan Schumpert
It’s hard for me to get a general read on how this game will play out. On one hand, Tennessee’s pitching situation is dicey after taxing a number of arms in its opener and the Vols’ offense is rolling as of late and can score enough for Tennessee to win any game. North Carolina has a good offense too and neither starting pitcher has been great as of late.
But on the other hand, nearly every North Carolina game in the NCAA Tournament to date has been low scoring and the Tar Heels stout bullpen should be fully available against the Vols’ explosive offense.
The feeling I do have entering this game is that Drew Beam is going to bounce back. His last three starts have undoubtedly been bad but it also hasn’t felt like he’s been that far off either. I don’t know that he’ll pitch seven fantastic innings or anything like that but I do believe he’ll get through those middle innings without things getting away from him.
With that in mind, Tennessee gets it done in another close one.
Prediction: Tennessee 7, North Carolina 5
