Notre Dame reach CWS by eliminating No. 1 Tennessee

Notre Dame's Jack Brannigan (9) celebrates after hitting a homer that put the Fighting Irish in the lead at the top of the seventh inning during the NCAA Knoxville Super Regionals between Tennessee and Notre Dame. Jamar Coach/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK

Notre Dame reach College World Series by eliminating No. 1 Tennessee

By Adam Stites | Last updated 6/12/22

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish baseball team is headed to the College World Series for the first time in 20 years after rallying to beat the No. 1 Tennessee Volunteers, 7-3, in a Super Regional on Sunday.

Notre Dame won the first game of the best-of-three series, but Tennessee bounced back with a 12-4 win on Saturday. The Volunteers led 3-1 after six innings in the rubber match, but the Fighting Irish hit back-to-back home runs in the seventh to take a 4-3 lead.

The Irish take the lead in Knoxville!!

ESPN#RoadToOmaha x @NDBaseball pic.twitter.com/pYFq4cCSo9
— NCAA Baseball (@NCAABaseball) June 12, 2022

Notre Dame padded its lead with three more runs in the eighth inning and shut down the Tennessee offense to secure the win.

The last CWS appearance for the Fighting Irish came in 2002 when the team upset No. 1 Florida State in a Super Regional. Notre Dame went on to lose in the second round against Stanford. The team's only other CWS appearance came in 1957.

Tennessee — which exploded for 14 hits in its win Saturday — managed only five hits on Sunday with none in the last three innings.

More must-reads: