There will be a new NCAA baseball champion in 2025, as Tennessee’s season came to an end with an 11–4 loss to Arkansas on June 8 at Baum-Walker Stadium.
The Vols (46–19) kept the game close early but unraveled in the fourth inning after starting pitcher Liam Doyle ran into trouble. Arkansas (48–13) capitalized with a five-run frame, highlighted by a grand slam from Logan Maxwell, and never looked back.
Doyle allowed five earned runs on five hits, two walks, and a hit batter over 3.2 innings. He struck out six but struggled to find the strike zone, especially in the third and fourth innings. A leadoff walk in the third led to a two-run homer by Arkansas’s Charles Davalan.
Tennessee responded with three straight singles in the bottom of the third, briefly cutting the deficit to 2–1. But a double play limited the damage, and the Vols failed to sustain any consistent offense, managing just six singles, a double, and two late-game homers.
After Doyle exited with the bases loaded, the Vols’ bullpen failed to stop the bleeding. Brayden Krenzel hit a batter and threw a wild pitch before AJ Russell entered. On Russell’s fourth pitch, Maxwell launched a grand slam into the Tennessee bullpen, giving Arkansas a 7–1 lead.
The Razorbacks added more runs in the seventh. Maxwell doubled, and Kuhio Aloy drove him in with an RBI single. Two more runs scored after Tennessee reliever Brandon Arvidson walked back-to-back batters with the bases loaded.
Tennessee showed some fight in the late innings. Dean Curley delivered an RBI single in the eighth, and freshman Jay Abernathy hit his first career home run in the ninth to trim the deficit to 11–4. But it was too little, too late.
Arkansas finished the game with 10 hits, eight walks, and three home runs. They now advance to the College World Series, while Tennessee’s season ends short of a championship for another year.
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