You could sense a celebration building at Lindsey Nelson Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

Tennessee baseball hit three home runs in the first inning in Game 2 of the NCAA super regional. Starting pitcher Drew Beam struck out five of the first 10 Evansville batters and didn’t allow a hit through the first three innings.

With the Vols leading 4-0, the game looked like nothing more than a continuation of UT’s first four outings in the NCAA Tournament at the same venue. Each one had a been a convincing victory for the tournament’s No. 1 overall seed.

But just when UT’s third trip to the College World Series in four seasons seemed like a formality, Evansville knocked the Vols off course.

The Aces overturned UT’s lead and defied the home-field odds by cramming 10 runs into the fourth, fifth and sixth innings for a 10-8 victory.

Evansville’s comeback snapped Tennessee’s four-game winning streak in the tournament – all by five or more runs – and set up a third game Sunday to determine which team qualifies for the CWS.

The Vols still will be favored. But consider them a shaky favorite. The pressure is on them, not fourth-seeded Evansville, which seems so comfortable in an underdog role.

The fourth-seeded Aces beat higher-seeded Wake Forest and East Carolina in winning the Greenville (North Carolina) Regional to advance to the super regional. They also won the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament to qualify for the NCAA Tournament.

All those upsets served the Aces well after their unsettling start Saturday. They were unfazed by the 4-0 deficit on the heels of an 11-6 defeat in Game 1 of the Super Regional.

VOLS FALL IN GAME 2: Tennessee baseball bullpen melts down as Evansville forces super regional Game 3

Rather than wilting against a team that began the day 39-3 on its home field, Evansville responded with one hit after another in the middle innings.

Brendan Hord, Cal McGinnis and Kip Fougerousse hit home runs. Evan Waggoner and Chase Hug added two hits apiece.

The way they were hitting they looked more like the Vols than the Vols did. You could say the same for their relief pitching.

Evansville starting pitcher Donovan Schultz got only four outs before coach Wes Carroll turned to his bullpen. The Aces’ relievers responded by giving up just one run from the second inning through the eighth.

Conversely, UT’s usually dominant relief corps struggled through one inning after another. Coach Tony Vitello wound up using four relievers, which means Tennessee won’t have a well-rested staff for Sunday’s finale.

But neither will Evansville, which also used five pitchers. And the Aces needed all of them to turn back Tennessee’s last-inning surge. Shane Harris closed out the game by getting Tennessee star Christian Moore to fly out after the Vols had scored three runs and loaded the bases.

The pressure will mount for Tennessee on Sunday.

ADAMS: Tennessee baseball matches Evansville resilience, trumps Aces with super regional homers

Two years ago, the Vols also were the No. 1 overall tournament seed. However, they came up one victory short on their home field against Notre Dame in the Super Regional.

This Tennessee team has been almost as good as that one. But these Vols haven’t just been good. They have been good under pressure.

Now, they will have one more chance to prove how clutch they can be.

John Adams is a senior columnist. He may be reached at 865-342-6284 or john.adams@knoxnews.com. Follow him at: twitter.com/johnadamskns.

This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Tennessee baseball stunned by Evansville in super regional Game 2