Playing in its third consecutive College World Series, #6 Stanford dropped an elimination game to #21 Tennessee 6-4 on Monday from Charles Schwab Field.
The Cardinal jumped out to an early 4-0 lead after scoring two runs in the first and two more in the third, but Tennessee reliever Chase Burns entered and shut the door on any further offense. Burns struck out nine over six scoreless innings of work while allowing just two hits.
Junior Alberto Rios, who finished 2-for-3, did the bulk of the damage for the Cardinal, lacing a run-scoring double in the first and contributing a sacrifice fly in the fourth. Sophomore Braden Montgomery also had two hits, going 2-for-4 with an RBI-single in the fourth.
Stanford starter Quinn Matthews posted zeros in each of the first four innings, but Tennessee strung together six singles in the fifth inning to eventually knot the game at 4-4. The Volunteers broke the stalemate in the seventh, plating a pair of runs to earn the 6-4 victory.
Stanford head coach Dave Esquer, players Alberto Rios and Drew Dowd, all met after the loss to talk about the game and the season. Video is courtesy of the NCAA.