Kentucky's spirited run through the SEC Tournament as the event's 12 seed came to an end early Sunday morning as No. 1 Tennessee defeated the Wildcats 12-2 in the semifinals at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium in Alabama.
The Wildcats became the first double-digit seed to reach the semifinals with three upset wins but ran into the nation's most talented team, and the Volunteers were determined to avenge its only series loss of the season earlier this month.
Tennessee (52-7) advances to face No. 7 seed Florida (39-21) on Sunday in the championship game. The Gators advanced Saturday with a 9-0 win over second-seeded Texas A&M.
Kentucky (33-26) now waits to see if it has done enough to earn an NCAA Tournament bid on Monday. The Cats are considered to be squarely on the tourney bubble but have a strong resume filled with more RPI Top 10 and 25 wins than most of their challengers.
A win over the Vols would have likely clinched a berth for Nick Mingione's squad, but UT proved why it was the most dominant team in college baseball this season.
Tennessee got a strong starting effort from freshman right-hander Drew Beam and solid middle relief from fellow freshman righty Chase Burns (8-1) to keep the UK bats in check for most of the night. The duo combined to allow only four hits and struck out 12.
The Vols broke a 2-2 tie in the top of the eighth when Luc Lipcius, Jordan Beck, and Trey Lipscomb each singled to load the bases with one out. Kentucky reliever Zack Lee then hit Jorel Ortega with a pitch to force home the go-ahead run and uncorked a wild pitch with two outs to make it 4-2. Courtland Lawson followed with a two-run double to add a pair of insurance runs.
Tennessee added six more in the ninth with the help of a misplayed fly ball to shallow left field by the Cats that dropped for a triple and a mammoth three-run homer by Blake Burke to put it out of reach and leave non-viewers with a deceptive final score.
Austin Strickland (2-4) took the loss for the UK staff in tough-luck fashion despite giving one of his best performances of the season. The sophomore right-hander allowed only one run on three hits over 3.2 innings in relief of starter Magdiel Cotto, who held the potent UT bats to just two runs on two hits over the first 3.1 innings.
The Cats played shorthanded in the game as starting centerfielder John Thrasher suffered a possible concussion in Saturday's first-game win over LSU, and starting third baseman Chase Estep left the game in the fifth with a sprained ankle.
Kentucky got two hits apiece from Hunter Jump and Ryan Ritter to lead the offense.
