Knoxville Super Regional Preview: Notre Dame vs. Tennessee
POSTSEASON Aaron Fitt - June 8, 2022
Notre Dame (38-14) at No. 1 Tennessee (56-7)
6 p.m. Friday on ESPN2
2 p.m. Saturday on ESPN
TBD on Sunday, if necessary
Five Reasons To Watch
1. A glimpse of greatness. At 56-7 overall, Tennessee is having one of the most dominant seasons in the history of college baseball. The Volunteers went 25-5 in the SEC to win the East Division by 10 games and the overall regular-season title by six games, then ran unbeaten through the SEC tournament and the Knoxville Regional. Tennessee has a chance to go down as one of the all-time great teams in college baseball if it can close the deal in Omaha and take home a national title — something that eluded other great regular season teams like 2021 Arkansas, 2017 Oregon State and 2013 Vanderbilt. Tennessee is elite in just about every way, leading the nation in home runs per game, slugging percentage and ERA, ranking second in strikeout-to-walk ratio as a pitching staff, fourth in scoring, 11th in batting and 13th in fielding percentage.
2. The Lindsey Nelson spectacle. As Tennessee rocketed to national prominence over the last two years, Lindsey Nelson Stadium became one of college baseball’s most intimidating venues for road teams. The fans are raucous, and the brash Volunteers feed off their energy and play to the crowd with demonstrative celebratory antics. That can rub opponents and old-school baseball purists the wrong way — but the only way to stop them is to beat them, and doing that in Knoxville has been close to impossible. Tennessee is 37-3 at home this year and 68-12 at home over the last two years.
3. John Michael Bertrand. After his gem against Florida State in the ACC tournament, I described Notre Dame ace lefty Bertrand as a master clinician at the height of his powers. He’s a fifth-year senior with loads of poise, polish and competitiveness, and the ability to keep hitters off balance by mixing an 88-93 fastball that he can locate to either side with sink or ride, a tumbling changeup, sharp slider and curveball. At 9-2, 2.27 with a 103-19 K-BB mark in 99 innings, Bertrand is a slam-dunk All-American, and it will be fun to see how he matches up with Tennessee’s explosive offense on Saturday (the Irish will throw Austin Temple on Friday, as Bertrand threw 107 pitches this past Sunday in the regional final against Texas Tech).
4. Chase Dollander. The SEC Pitcher of the Year is an immense talent with top-of-the-draft upside in 2023, with an overpowering mid-to-high-90s fastball, a plus slider in the mid-80s, a better than average changeup and solid curveball. Dollander is 9-0, 2.38 with a sterling 103-13 K-BB mark in 72 innings, evidence of both his superb bat-missing ability and his exceptional control — a rare combination. But Dollander was uncharacteristically mortal in the regional against Campbell last week, getting knocked out in the third inning, so it will be interesting to see if Notre Dame’s disciplined offense can follow the Camels’ script and get to him for a second straight week. It won’t be easy.
5. Tennessee’s flash vs. Notre Dame’s stability. These matchup presents a dramatic contrast between Tennessee’s in-your-face, emotional style and Notre Dame’s quieter, laser-focused and ultra-disciplined mentality. The Volunteers simply dazzle you with their overwhelming talent, in the lineup as well as on the mound. The Fighting Irish have talent too, with a nice collection of upper-90s arms in the bullpen, but everyone who faces the Irish always walk away raving about how well coached and fundamentally sound they are, with a cohesive and mature offensive approach and a rock-solid defense that seldom gives away free bases. That isn’t to say Tennessee lacks sound fundamentals or focus (just look at its .980 fielding percentage, which is identical to Notre Dame’s). But nonetheless, this feels like a clash between the unstoppable force that is Tennessee and the immovable object that is Notre Dame. It’s a category five hurricane against a 300-year-old oak tree.
An Opposing Coach Breaks Down Notre Dame
“It’s just an older position player group. You start going around the field, [David] LaManna behind the plate has been there forever, [Jack] Brannigan at third, Zack Prajzner at short has been there forever. They’re splitting time with [Jack] Penney the freshman and Jared Miller at second, then Carter Putz, been there forever. It’s just an approach-driven team. They’re extremely well coached, they have a fantastic approach and they all buy in. If your guy doesn’t have stuff, I think they’re gonna wear you out. If you get into patterns, they’re gonna figure it out, and then adjust. They just do such a good job offensively getting to their plan. And then obviously they’re one of the elite defensive clubs in the country. They’re not gonna beat themselves, you have to go out and actually beat them.
“I think Putz is scary in there, Putz and Ryan Cole. Both of them have some sneaky juice in there. And the guy who’s been playing great late is Jack Zyska, he’s got real strength in there too. Cole and Putz, they just have really good at-bats, you can execute a pitch and they can still hurt you. They’re just old, man. That starting lineup, how many college at-bats do they have? I bet you it’s so many. They’ve all been there forever playing together, I think they all trust each other, and they’re a very, very good team.
“Brannigan’s the best defensive third baseman in the country, you couldn’t argue that one. He changes the game with his defense at third. But their left side, Prajzner and Brannigan, is elite. LaManna has an awesome approach at the plate, has a really good arm and does a good job handling that staff. He’s doing what an old guy should do.
Notre Dame’s John Michael Bertrand (Aaron Fitt)
“And then their staff, Chuck [Ristano] has done an awesome job with their staff. [John Michael] Bertrand doesn’t throw anything above the knee, it’s four pitches whenever he wants, he’s always on the attack, he works fast — he is awesome, he’s really, really good. Then they do a good job with the rest of them. [Aidan] Tyrell can spot start, the Austin Temple kid’s got good stuff, 91-94 with four pitches. But they’ve got power stuff out of the bullpen. Alex Rao’s got power stuff and Liam Simon’s got power stuff and Brannigan’s got power stuff. I think they’ve got three guys who can throw the ball 99 mph. Rao’s more fastball-change, and Simon’s more slider. The lefty, Jack Findley, it seems like his stuff’s played up a lot better out of their bullpen. I thought it was just a pitchability lefty, but I watched him against Texas Tech and he was throwing the ball up to 93 mph pumping heaters. As a reliever I think it’s more power.
“Out of all the teams left, if there’s one team that could beat Tennessee, it’s them. Because again, they aren’t beating themselves, and they’ve been through it now. They went to Starkville last year, it’s the same exact team. That environment won’t be too much. They’re good.
“I think their pitching is good enough to keep them in the game, they’re gonna play elite defense. We had arms with really good stuff, and when we didn’t execute, they wore us out. And that’s what they do.”
An Opposing Coach Breaks Down Tennessee
“Their lineup, it’s a good balance of lefty and righty, and it’s experienced hitters. They just do such a good job of sitting on pitches. It’s a lineup that you can feel like, ‘Man we got these guys’ for five or six innings, but it’s just an explosive lineup, they can get you in an instant. They guess a lot, like you should, I always think the best offenses guess a lot. They’re experienced hitters that have a really good feel for the game, and they’re guessing. If they guess wrong, you can get them out, but they’re just betting that they’re guessing right enough times in the game, and they’re such good hitters that when they guess right, they do damage. It’s just a hard lineup to pitch to because of that.
Drew Gilbert (Photo By Caleb Jones/Tennessee Athletics)
“I think Drew Gilbert’s the most clutch. Do you say, ‘Hey, don’t let him beat you?’ But then [Trey] Lipscomb’s hitting right behind him and he’s the SEC Player of the Year, so that’s a tough one. [Luc] Lipcius, you can pitch to him, and if you make your pitches you get him out, but they’re just such good mistake hitters. If they guess right and it’s not the perfect pitch, they just do damage. I would say that 3-4-5, it’s tough to navigate, between Jordan Beck and Gilbert and Lipscomb. [Jorel] Ortega is a really solid hitter for them, and then Blake Burke hits in the 7-hole — gosh, he is so dangerous. Like, he is very dangerous. So there is not really a let-up, I guess Russell hasn’t had the best year, but he’s still got 13 homers, and Lawson in the 9-hole. So I guess the 8 and 9 hole, but everybody else. Stepheneson is a scrappy player that’s got some electricity to him, he’s a great table setter. It’s just a tough lineup to navigate, there’s not many holes in it.
“Lipscomb came out of nowhere. We were like, how is this guy sitting on the bench the first two years and then he does this this year? How does that even happen. If you can spin it, he’s not great with righthanded spin, but you’d better miss in the right spot, because if you miss in the middle, then he hits a home run. You can make your pitches to him, but they’re just really good mistake hitters, and it’s just hard for a college pitching staff to go through a whole game and not make a handful of mistakes, and they just do not miss mistakes. If they guess right and you make a mistake, it’s a home run, it’s not even a double, it’s a home run. It’s just a dangerous lineup because of that. And if you play them at their place, pop-ups are going out of there regularly. And it’s hostile.
“They’re very solid defensively, except at catcher, I think there’s some vulnerability — not in receiving or blocking, just the running game, I think they’re vulnerable with that. If you have some guys that can run the bases then you can get some runners into scoring position, because they have trouble defending the run game. And I think it’s the slower turf there, so it’s hard to get a ground ball through there, and they have great range and accurate arms in the infield. And the park’s so small that there’s a lot of home runs, but if there’s a fly ball they’re getting it, because those guys can track everything down. I’ve seen Beck make circus plays all year, robbing home runs and diving on the line. They’re really athletic, not too much is falling in that smaller outfield out there. You’d better hit it over the fence, because if you hit it in the outfield they’re gonna catch it.
“There’s not very many weaknesses. You could spend the whole time talking about strengths, everything is a strength. I thought the whole year their bullpen might get them, it hasn’t happened yet. I just didn’t think you could have a lefty who’s a changeup guy be your closer [Redmond Walsh]. When everything’s on the line in the postseason, and guys aren’t gonna get themselves out and you have to get them, I feel like somebody’s gonna get them if they’re asking their lefty to get the biggest outs at the end of the game. He’s good — he’s really good — but the right approach, you can beat him. I just think to close games out in the postseason, you need power stuff. When guys are really locked in, I think it can be hard to win with an 85-87 mph lefty with a changeup as an out pitch. But I don’t know, it hasn’t gotten them yet. And their starting pitching is just so good. It’s hard for an offense to go from 100 mph starters and relievers for the first seven innings of the game, then you have to switch gears immediately to a soft lefty with a changeup. That’s the tough thing.
“I didn’t get the feeling they trust Ben Joyce. It’s definitely a freak show, and it’s exciting, and everybody wants to see the gun when he comes in. But how many times was he in there with the game with the game really on the line in the seventh, eighth and ninth? I just don’t know, maybe it was a bunch, I just got the feeling they’re not going to him in the tight-tight games, they’re going to him when they’re up four or they’re up six or whatever. But he’s obviously a real weapon, and then they’ve got Kirby Connell and [Camden] Sewell, reliable veteran guys who don’t overpower you but pound the strike zone and just get outs.
“The other thing I’d say, are their starters running out of gas a little bit? I don’t know if they’re quite as dominant as they were beginning to middle, and everybody wears down to some degree. They’re still really, really good. But maybe the youth, with guys like Drew Beam and Chase Burns and Dollander, have they hit the wall a little bit like most young pitchers do the first time they have to go through a long season as a starter? So I guess that’s the third thing I’d say to watch. Are they hitting that wall a little bit? But Dollander is really good. He is impressive. it was good command, just hard to barrel it up. No doubt impressive stuff. And then Blade Tidwell is really good. If the other ones are fading a little bit, he’s probably picking up steam because he had the time off and is just coming back. He should be fresher at the end, so I think what you could see out of him down the stretch is he could be their main guy —I think he is the main guy. To me he’s the key because he’s a little fresher, and he’s gonna be able to be even a little more dominant than the other three down the stretch.
“Beating them, it’s a tall task".
