Tennessee dropped its College World Series opener to Virginia Sunday as struggles with runners in-scoring position and a big Virginia sixth inning cost the Vols.
Virginia 6 13 0
Tennessee 0 6 0
W — Andrew Abbott, L — Chad Dallas
Notes
Tennessee’s College World Series appearance is off to a forgettable start as Virginia became just the third team to shut out the Vols this season, joining Charlotte and Vanderbilt.
The story of the game was Tennessee leaving runners in-scoring position and failing to capitalize on three golden scoring opportunities. I’ll have an article focusing on this here in a bit so I won’t go into too much detail here but failing to get to Abbott in the first inning when he was struggling was costly. As were the four fruitless at-bats Tennessee had with a runner on third and less than two outs.
Chad Dallas was solid for much of the game before Virginia ran him from the game in the seventh inning. That seventh inning was brutal and an oddity for Tennessee. Typically when UT gives up big innings it’s due to the long ball but Virginia killed the Vols by a thousand cuts. Virginia recorded five straight singles and stole two bases in the inning as the Cavaliers took advantage of the big T.D. Ameritrade outfield to score four runs and distance themselves from Tennessee.
Virginia’s offensive approach was clear, swing early in counts against Chad Dallas. It had mixed results but the positive if you’re Tennessee is that it allowed Dallas to throw just 63 pitches in 6.1 innings. If Tennessee can win its next two days and make it to Friday Dallas should be available to start.
Vitello and Connor Pavolony both talked postgame about how the inning and missed scoring opportunities took the wind out of UT’s sails. I don’t think Tennessee quit by any means but I don’t think they had the same heat or ferocity after the seventh innings.
Some may say today’s game shows Tennessee can’t score in a big park due to its ability to rely on the long ball but I don’t think a single ball Tennessee hit would have been a home run at Lindsey Nelson Stadium. Just a bad hitting day for the Vols. That was highlighted by Luc Lipcius’ golden sombrero in the loss.
Tennessee will look to keep its season alive Tuesday when they face the loser of Texas and Mississippi State at 2 p.m. ET. Vitello said postgame that the plan is for Blade Tidwell to start.
Quotes
Tony Vitello’s opening statement
“I thought there were moments whether at the plate or on the mound where we lacked conviction and it cost us a little bit. And towards the end of the game, when the score wasn't the way we wanted, we uncharacteristically -- rolled over is not the right word, but we lost our edge a little bit, which has been so beneficial to us. So Vol fans deserve better because I know they came out in big numbers and certainly have helped us to get to this point, too. But it wasn't like there wasn't some try hard out there and some preparation. If anything, maybe there was a little bit too much of that. And for all those fans that did watch, certainly not the happiest Father's Day for our crew, but it is Father's Day so that will be the next thing that everyone needs to celebrate in our locker room. Then we need to turn the page and have some good preparation tomorrow to prepare for Tuesday afternoon.”
Vitello on why his team lacked conviction and what that looked like
“I think you're standing on this field and you can get caught up in your thoughts a little bit, what's on the line. It's certainly a new setting. It's the first time back at it after a week or so. So, you can feel for things instead of just doing things. And I would hope our guys -- they're always good about kids and autographs, in my opinion, and spending their time -- I hope they all get stopped on the way to the bus or on the way back to the hotel by a kid and sign an autograph or dish out a high-five, and have a good reminder that this is a Little Leaguer game. This is the only sport where the coach dresses up almost in a Halloween costume to be out there. So it needs to be treated as such regardless of the environment. Follow-up question may be was the moment too big or any of that stuff. I just think a pretty good pitcher out there who made pitches when he needed to. We could have helped ourselves in situations by being on the attack a little bit more in the proper baseball fashion, in a loose manner or an aggressive manner, than kind of feeling our way through some stuff.”
Vitello on the missed scoring opportunities
“It definitely impacted the game. There's a chance to throw a blow in the first inning and a couple other times. You don't really know how the game would have changed. But regardless, the narrative still would have been there was moments where we didn't play baseball the way that we need to, the way we're capable of, and also in the fashion that got us to be able to play in this stadium.”
Vitello on what he saw in the seventh inning and specifically from Sean Hunley when he came in
“Sean is rarely right over the heart of the plate. And on two pitches that they executed on, that was the case. So who knows? He might be able to answer things for himself. In my opinion, the guy's asked to do a ton. So every now and then it's not going to work out great for you. But, again, going back to original answer, I think they had a little momentum getting out of a couple of key situations where they were in danger. And as much as I said that you can't get in your feelings to our guys or you've got to control your emotions, this is a kid's game, and it is a big stage. So emotions and momentum can help you a little bit. And I think that maybe was the cause of them getting to two of our better guys a little bit.”
Connor Pavolony on what Andrew Abbott was doing well
“I think Abbott's fastball was playing up in the zone. It was on the scouting report, fastball at high spin rate, plays well up in the zone. We kind of fed into what he was trying to do and never made an adjustment. I think that's what he went back to when he needed to get a strikeout or with two strikes and we just never adjusted to it.”
Pavolony on if how the seventh inning unfolded made it even more demoralizing
“No, whether it's a home run or single, a run is a run. I think it hurt more when they got cap singles or something like that. It just seemed like everything was going against us. But I think we were doing everything we could to keep our spirits up because our offense can flip this game in one inning. I wouldn't put it past us to put six runs up in an inning, we've done it multiple times this year. I don't think we were ever out of this game at any point until the game was over. I wouldn't say demoralize was the right word, but, yeah, it hurt a little bit seeing that.”
Pavolony on if losing the first game in Hoover helps them now
“Yeah, I agree the stage is different. But I don't think this is any different than the SEC Tournament in terms of competition or in terms of -- the park, it all looks the same. It's a little bit bigger, there's a little more seats. But, yeah, I think this team's built for this. We're not going to win every game. And we don't expect to win every game. But when we do lose a game, we come back and want to win the next one a little bit more. I think that's exactly what we're going to do on Tuesday.”
Virginia 6 13 0
Tennessee 0 6 0
W — Andrew Abbott, L — Chad Dallas
Notes
Tennessee’s College World Series appearance is off to a forgettable start as Virginia became just the third team to shut out the Vols this season, joining Charlotte and Vanderbilt.
The story of the game was Tennessee leaving runners in-scoring position and failing to capitalize on three golden scoring opportunities. I’ll have an article focusing on this here in a bit so I won’t go into too much detail here but failing to get to Abbott in the first inning when he was struggling was costly. As were the four fruitless at-bats Tennessee had with a runner on third and less than two outs.
Chad Dallas was solid for much of the game before Virginia ran him from the game in the seventh inning. That seventh inning was brutal and an oddity for Tennessee. Typically when UT gives up big innings it’s due to the long ball but Virginia killed the Vols by a thousand cuts. Virginia recorded five straight singles and stole two bases in the inning as the Cavaliers took advantage of the big T.D. Ameritrade outfield to score four runs and distance themselves from Tennessee.
Virginia’s offensive approach was clear, swing early in counts against Chad Dallas. It had mixed results but the positive if you’re Tennessee is that it allowed Dallas to throw just 63 pitches in 6.1 innings. If Tennessee can win its next two days and make it to Friday Dallas should be available to start.
Vitello and Connor Pavolony both talked postgame about how the inning and missed scoring opportunities took the wind out of UT’s sails. I don’t think Tennessee quit by any means but I don’t think they had the same heat or ferocity after the seventh innings.
Some may say today’s game shows Tennessee can’t score in a big park due to its ability to rely on the long ball but I don’t think a single ball Tennessee hit would have been a home run at Lindsey Nelson Stadium. Just a bad hitting day for the Vols. That was highlighted by Luc Lipcius’ golden sombrero in the loss.
Tennessee will look to keep its season alive Tuesday when they face the loser of Texas and Mississippi State at 2 p.m. ET. Vitello said postgame that the plan is for Blade Tidwell to start.
Quotes
Tony Vitello’s opening statement
“I thought there were moments whether at the plate or on the mound where we lacked conviction and it cost us a little bit. And towards the end of the game, when the score wasn't the way we wanted, we uncharacteristically -- rolled over is not the right word, but we lost our edge a little bit, which has been so beneficial to us. So Vol fans deserve better because I know they came out in big numbers and certainly have helped us to get to this point, too. But it wasn't like there wasn't some try hard out there and some preparation. If anything, maybe there was a little bit too much of that. And for all those fans that did watch, certainly not the happiest Father's Day for our crew, but it is Father's Day so that will be the next thing that everyone needs to celebrate in our locker room. Then we need to turn the page and have some good preparation tomorrow to prepare for Tuesday afternoon.”
Vitello on why his team lacked conviction and what that looked like
“I think you're standing on this field and you can get caught up in your thoughts a little bit, what's on the line. It's certainly a new setting. It's the first time back at it after a week or so. So, you can feel for things instead of just doing things. And I would hope our guys -- they're always good about kids and autographs, in my opinion, and spending their time -- I hope they all get stopped on the way to the bus or on the way back to the hotel by a kid and sign an autograph or dish out a high-five, and have a good reminder that this is a Little Leaguer game. This is the only sport where the coach dresses up almost in a Halloween costume to be out there. So it needs to be treated as such regardless of the environment. Follow-up question may be was the moment too big or any of that stuff. I just think a pretty good pitcher out there who made pitches when he needed to. We could have helped ourselves in situations by being on the attack a little bit more in the proper baseball fashion, in a loose manner or an aggressive manner, than kind of feeling our way through some stuff.”
Vitello on the missed scoring opportunities
“It definitely impacted the game. There's a chance to throw a blow in the first inning and a couple other times. You don't really know how the game would have changed. But regardless, the narrative still would have been there was moments where we didn't play baseball the way that we need to, the way we're capable of, and also in the fashion that got us to be able to play in this stadium.”
Vitello on what he saw in the seventh inning and specifically from Sean Hunley when he came in
“Sean is rarely right over the heart of the plate. And on two pitches that they executed on, that was the case. So who knows? He might be able to answer things for himself. In my opinion, the guy's asked to do a ton. So every now and then it's not going to work out great for you. But, again, going back to original answer, I think they had a little momentum getting out of a couple of key situations where they were in danger. And as much as I said that you can't get in your feelings to our guys or you've got to control your emotions, this is a kid's game, and it is a big stage. So emotions and momentum can help you a little bit. And I think that maybe was the cause of them getting to two of our better guys a little bit.”
Connor Pavolony on what Andrew Abbott was doing well
“I think Abbott's fastball was playing up in the zone. It was on the scouting report, fastball at high spin rate, plays well up in the zone. We kind of fed into what he was trying to do and never made an adjustment. I think that's what he went back to when he needed to get a strikeout or with two strikes and we just never adjusted to it.”
Pavolony on if how the seventh inning unfolded made it even more demoralizing
“No, whether it's a home run or single, a run is a run. I think it hurt more when they got cap singles or something like that. It just seemed like everything was going against us. But I think we were doing everything we could to keep our spirits up because our offense can flip this game in one inning. I wouldn't put it past us to put six runs up in an inning, we've done it multiple times this year. I don't think we were ever out of this game at any point until the game was over. I wouldn't say demoralize was the right word, but, yeah, it hurt a little bit seeing that.”
Pavolony on if losing the first game in Hoover helps them now
“Yeah, I agree the stage is different. But I don't think this is any different than the SEC Tournament in terms of competition or in terms of -- the park, it all looks the same. It's a little bit bigger, there's a little more seats. But, yeah, I think this team's built for this. We're not going to win every game. And we don't expect to win every game. But when we do lose a game, we come back and want to win the next one a little bit more. I think that's exactly what we're going to do on Tuesday.”
