Dan Fleser: Vols Had Little Left In The Tank When It Came To Omaha

  • Tuesday, June 22, 2021
  • Dan Fleser

A season’s worth of determined play propelled Tennessee all the way to the College World Series. Unfortunately, the Vols didn’t have enough wherewithal left to last very long in Omaha, Neb.

 

Texas sent the other UT packing, breaking a tie with three runs in the fourth inning and advancing with an 8-4 baseball victory in an elimination game Tuesday afternoon at TD Ameritrade Park.

 

Like Virginia, which beat Tennessee 6-0 on Sunday, Texas did its fair share to determine Tennessee’s fate.

 

Eric Kennedy and Silas Ardoin came through with clutch hits.

Kennedy slammed a three-run homer high off the back wall in the bullpen behind the right-field fence with two outs in the second inning. Ardoin lashed a two-out, two-strike, two-RBI single in the decisive fourth.

 

“We were one pitch away from getting out of two innings that a lot of damage was done,” UT coach Tony Vitello said.

 

Texas’ defense executed two double plays to thwart Tennessee scoring threats. An unusual DP that went from third to home to first gut-punched the Vols after they loaded the bases with nobody out in the third. Catcher Ardoin fielded the throw home on one bounce before relaying to first base.     

Finally, Longhorns pitcher Tanner Witt stopped the game’s back-and-forth nature with 5.2 innings of scoreless relief. He struck out two and, more importantly, didn’t walk a batter.

 

Texas’ exploits won’t prevent the Vols from lamenting their shortcomings.

 

Although Tennessee hit the baseball with more authority than Sunday, the Vols didn’t recreate any semblance of the power shown during the tournament’s first two rounds. Jordan Beck’s double was the lone extra-base hit. Designated hitter Pete Derkay, who bats eighth in the batting order, had two more hits. He was the Vols’ most productive hitter in Omaha with four total hits.

 

Meanwhile, pitchers Blade Tidwell and Sean Hunley undermined their efforts with walks. Leadoff walks issued by Tidwell in the second and third innings both led to runs. Hunley, who came on to start the fourth, seemed distracted by Texas’ baserunners. The two walks that he issued factored in Ardoin’s two-run hit.

 

Douglas Hodo III received the second walk. A replay appeared to show him being tagged out at home plate but the umpires didn’t reverse the call. Earlier in the inning, third base umpire Mike Morris ejected Tennessee volunteer assistant Ross Kivett.

 

It was that kind of day.

 

Tennessee’s loss became part of another grim news cycle for the athletic department. A day earlier, reports surfaced that Vols football freshmen Kaidon Salter and Amari McNeill were facing misdemeanor drug charges that resulted from a traffic stop during the weekend. Salter, a highly regarded quarterback prospect, had been reinstated earlier this month following a spring suspension.

 

The baseball Vols’ success had eclipsed any story lines of that nature. Their narrative was brimming with possibility and the fans eagerly climbed aboard the bandwagon. Suddenly the ride is over. What to do now?

 

“I mean nothing’s packed; I can tell you that,” Vitello said. “I can’t tell you how much longer we’ll stay here, but I feel unprepared. Kind of like our two games. We didn’t play that great, even though a lot of preparation time was put in.”     

 

* * *

 

Dan Fleser is a 1980 graduate of the University of Missouri, who covered University of Tennessee athletics from 1988-2019. He can be reached at danfleser3@gmail.com.

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