Early in the year, with so much new talent, Tennessee Baseball struggled to get things going. The Vols had two major issues: defensive errors and an inability to drive in runners on base.
Well, in their 5-0 loss to the LSU Tigers Tuesday night, their second to LSU in the College World Series to be eliminated from the event, they lost due to errors and stranded runners. Everything that made fans question whether or not they would get this far was on display.
Drew Beam pitched as well as you could pitch for a while, and technically, Tennessee Baseball only had one error, the same as LSU. Dylan Crews walked in the first inning and reached second on a passed ball, and a single drove him in.
That 1-0 score was how it stayed until the sixth inning, and it was all due to a passed ball. LSU, meanwhile, scored its second run after Zane Denton overthrew a ball to first base on a bunt. The bunt was to send Gavin Dugas to third, but it sent him home.
A wild pitch by Camden Sewell with two outs in the seventh resulted in LSU’s third run. Crews homered in the ninth to drive in two, but the other was off a walk that Sewell shouldn’t have allowed after a full count.
Simply put, LSU should not have scored four of its five runs. Then comes the Vols’ issue on offense, where they just couldn’t bring home anybody on the night, something that has weirdly been an issue for a team in the top 10 in home runs this year.
In the third and the fifth innings, the Vols left two runners stranded. They then failed to score with the bases loaded in the seventh inning. Before all of that, with a runner on and no outs in the second, Christian Moore grounded into a double play.
When the game ended, Tennessee Baseball had 0 runs with six hits. LSU had five runs with eight hits. This game should have been a lot closer than it was, and for a while it was indeed a Pitcher’s Duel.
Now, when it comes to perspective, making a second College World Series in three years and winning a College World Series game for the first time in 22 years can’t be ignored. This program is still on the rise under Tony Vitello.
Still, when you look at how deep Tennessee Baseball’s rotation was and how LSU had to start a reliever, Nate Ackenhausen, it just seemed like the Vols were destined to get revenge. Not being able to hit Paul Skenes on Saturday was one thing, but their offense got worse.
Baseball is a weird sport, and if Vitello’s teams keep knocking on the door, they’re bound to win a title one day, but losing in this fashion brought back painful memories of early in the season. It also blew a costly opportunity.
