This time there was no staving off an elimination.

Tennessee bashed six home runs en route to a 15-6 dominating victory over LSU Sunday afternoon to capture the 2021 Knoxville Regional, sending the Vols to the College World Series for the first time since 2005, and ending the season for the Tigers.

The loss for the Tigers also concludes the brilliant coaching career of coach Paul Mainieri, who announced his retirement prior to the start of the postseason. Ending the 2021 campaign with a 38-25 record, Mainieri finishes his career at LSU with a record of 641-285-3, having captured the 2009 National Championship and played for another in 2017. In nearly 40 years of coaching college baseball, Mainieri won 1,505 games against 777 losses and eight ties.

“It just wasn’t our day today obviously,” Mainieri said. “We felt good going into the game. What Landon Marceaux did last weekend took so much guts and courage. It was unbelievable; but today I could tell pretty quickly that he just didn’t have his normal stuff. He looked like he was out of gas from the very beginning. His velocity was really down, but battled his way through three innings. Credit to Tennessee; they hit the ball better than we did today. They deserved to win.

“Our season is over, but I’m really proud of our players. A lot of people didn’t expect us to get here. Today, we just didn’t do what we needed to do. We are going to put the bats away now and call it a year; in my case we are going to call it a career.”

Jake Rucker got the home run show going for Tennessee, blasting a two-run shot in the first inning, following it with a solo shot two innings later. Catcher Connor Pavlony launched a two-run shot in the fourth inning and Jordan Beck had a three-run bomb to go along with a solo shot by center-fielder Drew Gilbert as the Vols blew the game open in the fifth inning with six runs on four hits.

Evan Russell added home run number six for Tennessee on a two-run shot in the eighth inning

The only scoring for the Tigers with the game in doubt also came via the long ball as right-fielder Dylan Crews had solo home runs in the first and third innings.

Freshman first baseman Tre’ Morgan added a two-run shot in the sixth to cut the lead down to a touchdown at 11-4. Another freshman, designated hitter Brody Drost had a two-run homer of his own an inning later to make it 11-6.

Marceaux (7-7) took the loss on the mound for the Tigers, allowing three runs on three hits, striking out four and walking one in three innings of work.

The focus of the LSU baseball world now shifts to who Athletic Director Scott Woodward will choose to replace Mainieri as the new head coach of the baseball program.

Stay tuned to TigerDetails.com for all the most up-to-date information when it comes to the LSU baseball coaching search.