Off The Bat: Tennessee Makes A Statement On A Wild Weekend

Image credit: Kurt Wilson (Ken Murphy/Four Seam Images

Week six of college baseball may have been the wildest week of the season yet. Tennessee made perhaps the loudest statement of the season with a sweep at Mississippi, Texas and Texas Tech delivered the most thrilling series yet this season and upsets abounded around the country. It’s still just late March, but it’s starting to get real.

Here are 12 thoughts on the weekend that was in college baseball.

1. Ok, Tennessee. I see you.

The Volunteers made as loud a statement as possible this weekend by going to a sold-out Swayze Field and sweeping Ole Miss. The Vols held the Rebels—who came into the weekend ranked eighth in the country in scoring, averaging 9.8 runs per game—to seven runs on the weekend and blasted Ole Miss pitching for 22 runs in the first two games before winning a tight, 4-3 game Sunday to finish off the sweep.

Sunday’s win was a gutty victory as Tennessee staved off a late comeback attempt and coach Tony Vitello said that kind of game is something that can help the Volunteers continue to grow and develop.

“No team in the country has any interest in peaking early in the season and the way that that happens is you go through some adversity,” he said. “It was reminiscent of last year in today’s win. We had some adversity, we had some things we didn’t do that great or could have gone better and yet we still won, which obviously makes everyone in that locker room happy.”

Overall, it was an absolutely resounding performance and answered pretty much any question remaining about the Volunteers. Before this weekend, Tennessee hadn’t played a true road game. Well, now it’s played and won three, all in front of big, loud crowds. The young Tennessee rotation of freshmen Chase Burns and Drew Beam and sophomore Chase Dollander was excellent a week ago in their SEC debuts against South Carolina, but how would they fare against the powerful Ole Miss lineup? Just fine, thank you. The trio held the Rebels to two runs on eight hits and one walk in 20.2 innings and struck out 27 batters. Was the offense—specifically the nation’s most powerful offense—sustainable outside the friendly confines of Lindsey Nelson Field? Well, that question was always kind of silly, but Tennessee hit five home runs Friday night and while they didn’t homer again the rest of the weekend, 26 runs in an SEC series is still loud.

I’ve gotten Tennessee wrong a couple times this season. I thought after losing seven players in the draft from last year’s College World Series team—a team that took the Vols back to Omaha for the first time since 2005—that it would take a small step back this spring, especially when Preseason All-American righthander Blade Tidwell suffered a shoulder injury that has kept him sidelined so far this season. I was slow to react as it became clearer that the Vols weren’t taking that small step back. And we were too light on them in last week’s ranking, when they were No. 7.

But after this weekend, there’s no reason to doubt the Vols now. After spending the first month of the season looking for a team to assert itself as the best in the nation, it’s now clear that’s Tennessee. Oregon State (17-5, 6-3) and Virginia (22-2, 7-2) look quite good as well and Texas Tech (20-5, 2-1) made its own statement this weekend. But no team can match Tennessee’s resume, talent and performance.

That combination has Tennessee ranked No. 1 for the first time in the 42-year history of the Baseball America Top 25. Rocky Top is on top, and Tennessee doesn’t look like it’s coming down any time soon.

2. While this was a statement weekend for Tennessee, it was a weekend to forget for Ole Miss (16-7, 2-4). Where the Vols answered any lingering questions about their resume and talent, the Rebels’ flaws were exposed further.

Ole Miss can score runs in bunches thanks to its powerful lineup and it did that this weekend. It scored in a total of four innings in the series and all seven of its runs came via the long ball. In all three games, Ole Miss had a zero on the scoreboard at the seventh-inning stretch.

The Rebels had no trouble hitting home runs—they had four of them and Tim Elko turned around a 99.9 mph fastball from righthander Ben Joyce—but they didn’t string enough offense together consistently. The competition certainly had something to do with that, but the Rebels just didn’t have enough base runners and didn’t get enough out of the top of their lineup—the one- and two-hole hitters went 0-for-24 with zero walks and 11 strikeouts on the weekend.

The larger concern came on the mound, however. Ole Miss’ three starters gave up 15 runs in 9.2 innings and none of the trio got out of the fifth inning. The bullpen has been solid this season, but it never got a chance to work with a lead this weekend and had to cover more than 17 innings. Seldom will that be a recipe for success.

The issues on the mound aren’t new for this Ole Miss team, its lineup had simply been able to cover for them prior to this weekend. Most weekends, the offense will be able to pick up the pitching staff. Tennessee’s rotation is a specific kind of problem and few teams in the country have anything that looks like it.

But Ole Miss needs to bounce back quickly from the sweep. It faces North Alabama (6-16) on Tuesday before traveling to Kentucky (17-8, 2-4), which is tough to beat in Lexington and is coming off a series win against Georgia.

3. The Ole Miss vs. Tennessee series got the hype coming into the weekend but the series of the weekend—and the season—turned out to be Texas at Texas Tech.

They played extra-inning thrillers on Friday and Saturday, and it was the Red Raiders (20-5, 2-1) coming out on top each time thanks to heroics from Kurt Wilson. The series finished Sunday with a blowout win for the Longhorns (19-7, 1-2).

Friday’s game produced an all-time ending. After a back-and-forth game, Texas Tech got runners to second and third with two outs in the 10th inning. Texas closer Aaron Nixon got ahead in the count 0-2 and seemed to be so focused on finishing the strikeout to get out of the jam that he forgot the runners. Wilson, who was on third, took advantage of the opportunity and raced home, sliding in safely without a throw for a walk-off steal of home for a 4-3 victory.

On Saturday, Texas Tech knocked out Texas starter Tristan Stevens with seven runs in the first inning—more runs than he had given up all season—but the Longhorns chipped away at the lead and pushed ahead in the eighth inning and again in the 10th. But the Red Raiders answered each time. In the 10th, they loaded the bases with two outs for Wilson. He again took advantage of the opportunity and hit a grand slam out to right field for a walk-off, 16-12 victory.

Wilson is a somewhat unlikely hero. He came to Texas Tech as a two-way player and had mostly played a bigger role on the mound than as a position player the first three seasons of his career. But he got more of an opportunity as a hitter last season and has taken off as an everyday player this spring. He’s hitting .293/.411/.489 with three home runs and three stolen bases and his back-to-back walk-offs this weekend will long live in the program’s lore.

In all three games, Texas out-hit Texas Tech. But on Friday and Saturday, the Longhorns couldn’t come up with the clutch hits they needed. That wasn’t a problem in the finale, particularly in a seven-run seventh inning that put the run-rule in effect and ultimately gave Texas a 12-1 victory in seven innings.

Texas and Texas Tech have combined to win the last five Big 12 titles and this series could end up being a pivotal one down the line. For now, it seems like a rough, somewhat unlucky weekend for the Longhorns, but not necessarily indicative of bigger problems.

For the Red Raiders, however, it was a big statement of intent. They’ve been a bit under the radar so far this season and hadn’t played on the big stage since Opening Weekend, when they were in the State Farm Showdown in Arlington, Texas. But they used the last month to build momentum and hit Big 12 play in stride.

Having now beaten the preseason favorites, Texas Tech is sure to be a factor all season in what’s shaping up to be an exciting Big 12 title race.

4. Louisiana State executed one of the weekend’s biggest turnarounds. It lost Friday’s series opener at Florida, 7-2, its fourth loss in five games. Something flipped for the Tigers the next day, however, and they didn’t trail the rest of the weekend. They won Saturday, 16-4, and won Sunday’s rubber game, 11-2, to claim a big road series win.

That LSU (17-7, 3-3) exploded offensively is no surprise. The Tigers have one of the best lineups in the country and are capable of scoring 10-plus runs on any given day. To do so on the road against a strong Florida pitching staff was good to see, but the bigger development came on the other side of the ball.

LSU has struggled defensively this season and been looking for answers on the mound. In its two wins in Gainesville, however, run prevention was not an issue. The Tigers played error-free baseball Saturday and Sunday—which they had done just three times in their first 22 games of the season—and held the Gators to just six runs on 10 hits.

Righthanders Ma’Khail Hilliard (5.2 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 0 BB, 7 K) and Samuel Dutton (3.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 1 K) did their jobs as starters Saturday and Sunday and the bullpen held the Gators to three runs in 11.2 innings on the weekend with Bryce Collins (3 IP, 0 H, 1 R, 5 BB, 3 K) and Grant Taylor (5.1 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 6 K) both providing long outings.

Defensively, Jordan Thompson and Cade Doughty switched positions, with Doughty moving from second base to shortstop. Whether that change turns out to be the critical change in settling the Tigers defense remains to be seen, but it worked well this weekend.

After the doom and gloom of last weekend’s SEC opening home series loss to Texas A&M, LSU completely flipped the script with its weekend in Gainesville. Now, it will look to build consistency as Auburn comes to Alex Box Stadium.

5. Speaking of flipping the script, no team did that better this week than South Carolina. The Gamecocks were swept last weekend at Tennessee and followed that up with a loss Tuesday at The Citadel. With Vanderbilt coming to Columbia for a Thursday-Saturday series, South Carolina was suddenly in a tough spot and lost the opener, 10-0, to extend its losing streak to five games.

Undeterred, the Gamecocks bounced back with an 8-2 victory Friday night and became the first team this year to get to freshman lefthander Carter Holton, who they knocked out in the second inning. South Carolina finished the series with an 8-6 comeback victory Saturday with a gutty performance.

The Gamecocks (12-11, 2-4) have had a wild last four weeks. In successive weeks, they were swept by Clemson, won a series against then-No. 1 Texas, were swept at Tennessee and won a series against Vanderbilt.

South Carolina has battled the injury bug early this season but is hanging tough. The Gamecocks are clearly capable of beating any team in the country on any given weekend—especially at Founders Park—and look like they’re going to be a problem in the SEC. With righthander Will Sanders (4-1, 3.44) anchoring the rotation and veteran Andrew Eyster (.367/.440/.582, 4 HR) at the heart of the offense, they’re an exciting team to watch.

6. Miami has found its stride in ACC play over the last three weeks and looks to be getting stronger. After winning its first series against Boston College, it went on the road last week and beat Clemson. This weekend, it swept North Carolina, finishing the weekend Sunday with a 3-2 victory in 14 innings.

The sweep was the Hurricanes’ first since Opening Weekend against Towson. Prior to this weekend, Miami (17-6, 7-2) hadn’t really put together a complete series. It lost openers against Harvard and Boston College, lost a series to Florida and was blown out in the finale at Clemson.

Against UNC, Miami had no such problems. It on Friday got a strong start from lefthander Carson Palmquist and mounted comebacks against UNC’s deep, strong bullpen the next two days. The Hurricanes’ own bullpen was called on for 17 innings in the series and held UNC to five runs—four of which came late Friday with Miami already up big.

Only Louisville (19-5, 6-0) has a better ACC record than Miami. There’s a long way to go, but after some early season hiccups, the Hurricanes are well positioned going into April.

7. Dallas Baptist was an early season RPI darling, as it’s sat atop the metric for the last few weeks. That the Patriots would be highly regarded should be no surprise at this point—they’ve established their credentials as an annual national contender.

But DBU had built its resume relatively quietly. It had a lot of good series wins—Sam Houston State, San Diego, Southern Mississippi and Oral Roberts are all off to strong starts to the season—but before this weekend’s showdown against Maryland, it hadn’t faced a ranked opponent.

The Patriots didn’t need the validation that beating a team with a number next to its name provides, but they got it anyway. DBU and Maryland split the first two games of the weekend before the Patriots claimed the series with a 5-2 victory Sunday, holding off a ninth-inning rally.

DBU (15-8) is still No. 1 in RPI, and this week entered the Top 25 at No. 18. It doesn’t open Missouri Valley Conference play until April 8 against Missouri State, but it’s already clear that the Patriots will be in the hosting conversation. The MVC doesn’t have another top-50 RPI team right now, but it also doesn’t have any team that’s going to weigh down the Patriots’ metrics. And it looks like DBU has the talent to dominate conference play, giving it a strong chance to host for the first time since 2015.

The Patriots have been especially tough on the mound this spring and have a 3.91 team ERA. Righthander Jacob Meador (5-0, 1.65) has been stellar at the front of the rotation and closer Chandler Arnold (0-0, 3.63, 4 SV) has found a steady role at the back of the bullpen.

DBU isn’t going to be No. 1 in RPI all season, but don’t expect it to fall far. The Patriots are putting together a special season.

8. Oregon State (17-5, 6-3) has deservedly gotten plenty of early buzz as it has not yet lost a series and has put together some dominant performances. But after three weeks of Pac-12 play, the Beavers are actually looking up in the standings at Oregon (16-7, 7-2).

The Ducks this weekend won a hard-fought series against Southern California to remain in first place in the conference standings. After splitting the first two games of the series, Oregon on Sunday scored six runs in the seventh and eighth innings to come back for a 7-6 victory.

Oregon has won nine of its last 11 games and this week entered the Top 25 for the first time this season at No. 20. But it hasn’t been easy for the Ducks. They’re doing this without Opening Day starter Adam Maier, who coach Mark Wasikowski this week said is out indefinitely. Fellow starter Andrew Mosiello has also missed the last three weeks but is working back to health.

Those injuries have left Oregon piecing things together on the mound, but they’ve been able to find consistency in the bullpen. Closer Kolby Somers (1-0, 0.90, 4 SV) anchors the group, and they’ve also gotten strong work from righthanders Logan Mercado (3-0, 1.46) and Matt Dallas (1-1, 3.29).

Oregon has been impressive offensively and is hitting .337/.416/.554 as a team. For a team that lost several of its top hitters from a year ago, including All-American Aaron Zavala, that has been crucial. Sophomore Colby Shade (.436/.511/.679), who was mostly a defensive replacement as a freshman, has been the breakout performer and this weekend had six hits. Brennan Smith (.366/.430/.624, 6 HR), a transfer from South Carolina, and veteran Tanner Smith (.308/.357/.548, 7 HR) are bringing the power.

Oregon is probably going to eventually need a little more on the mound, but for now it looks like it’s not missing a beat from last year’s team that hosted a regional.

9. Charlotte this weekend laid down a marker in the Conference USA race. The 49ers went on the road to Old Dominion and won the series, scoring 36 runs on the weekend.

Charlotte won the first two games of the series and had a chance to sweep, but couldn’t hold off ODU late, losing 13-12 in 10 innings. Still, the series win for the 49ers (16-7, 4-2) should hold up well all season. The Monarchs came into the weekend at 17-2 and had not lost a series this season, although their non-conference schedule ranks No. 295 in the country.

Plenty of 49ers contributed to the offensive explosion on the weekend. Jake Cunningham (.309/.407/.567, 6 HR) homered in all three games. Nate Furman (.424/.558/.565, 11 SB), the team’s leading hitter, and Austin Knight (.357/.483/.643, 6 HR), the 2021 C-USA Player of the Year, both had six hits and scored six runs.

Charlotte’s offense has been flying high all season (8.87 runs per game) and it has scored 61 runs in its last five games. If it keeps that up, it could slug its way to another conference title.

10. Army swept a doubleheader Sunday against Navy in Annapolis, winning the first game 7-0 in seven innings and 9-0 in the nightcap. The shutouts were just the 10th and 11th for the Black Knights in their 121-year series against the Midshipmen.

Righthander Patrick Melampy threw a shutout in the seven-inning first game, facing just one batter over the minimum. He held Navy to two hits, no walks and struck out two. Brian Dawson and Tanner Greshman combined for the shutout in the nightcap, with Dawson covering six innings for the win and Greshman taking the last three innings.

Army (7-15, 2-2) bounced back well Sunday after getting swept Saturday in a doubleheader at Bucknell. With its challenging non-conference slate now complete and a dominant performance against its archrival under its belt, Army should be able to build some momentum going forward.

11. The only teams with more wins than Mercer (20-5) are Tennessee (23-1) and Virginia (22-2). The Bears this weekend won a series at Utah, winning Sunday’s rubber game, 11-5.

Mercer had never before played a Pac-12 team but this weekend hit the road for Salt Lake City. It comes back with a solid series win against the Utes (14-9-1) and looks like the Southern Conference favorite.

The Bears are hitting .310/.426/.542 with 48 home runs in 25 games and are averaging 9.28 runs per game.

12. Liberty lost a series to Stetson, dropping the last two games of the weekend after winning Friday’s opener. It was the first series loss of the season for the Flames (15-7, 3-3).

After such a strong start to the season, which included an Opening Weekend series win at Florida, Liberty has hit a rough patch. The series loss to Stetson completed a 1-3 week for the Flames, which are now 4-6 since beating North Carolina, 1-0, on March 8. Its offense, which started the season so well, has hit a cold spell and is averaging four runs per game during that stretch.

Liberty now faces four road games this week as it looks to turn things around. It travels Tuesday to Duke and then faces Jacksonville on the weekend.

Eight for Omaha

Arkansas, Oklahoma State, Oregon State, Tennessee, Texas, Texas Tech, Vanderbilt, Virginia

After such a topsy-turvy week, this was a difficult exercise. Ultimately, I moved Arkansas and Texas Tech into the field and held onto Texas and Vanderbilt even after tough series losses. Arkansas didn’t have it easy at Missouri this weekend, but it’s been consistent all season long and this weekend handled its first true road series. Texas Tech looks to have figured some things out since a tough Opening Weekend and, by virtue of its series win against Texas, it has to be considered among the Big 12 favorites. As always, if the Road to Omaha runs through Lubbock, the Red Raiders will be favored (although last year’s super regional loss to Stanford showed they’re not unbeatable at home). Texas and Vanderbilt are simply too talented on the mound to drop yet, although both now have two series losses. Florida State was a near miss this week. The Seminoles can really pitch and look like they’re going to be in the mix all season long in the ACC. But they haven’t swept a series since Opening Weekend and while the competition has been good, it just feels like they’re walking a narrower path than some of these other teams in consideration.

Looking Ahead

No. 1 Tennessee set for rivalry series at No. 11 Vanderbilt. The in-state rivalry has rarely been a bigger deal than it is this year, as the Volunteers (23-1, 6-0) arrive in Nashville as the best team in the nation. The Commodores (19-4, 4-2) are coming off a series loss at South Carolina and will be eager to get back on track. These two teams finished first and second in the SEC East last year and again look like the top two teams in the division, adding further juice to the weekend.

No. 5 Florida State hosts No. 14 Notre Dame in ACC Atlantic Division showdown. After starting conference play with a sweep at North Carolina State, the Fighting Irish (12-5, 2-4) have lost four straight ACC games and it doesn’t get any easier this weekend in Tallahassee. The Seminoles (16-7, 6-3) have won their first three conference series and boast the conference’s best rotation. To add to the intrigue, Florida State coach Mike Martin Jr. and Notre Dame coach Link Jarrett were teammates at Florida State in 1993-94.

No. 20 Oregon travels to UCLA for tough Pac-12 test. The Ducks (16-7, 7-2) are the early leaders in the Pac-12 and already own series wins against Southern California, Stanford and Utah. This weekend’s trip to UCLA (15-8, 3-3) will be another challenge. The Bruins have been up-and-down this season but are coming off a series win at Arizona and also went 2-1 at the Shriners Hospitals for Children College Classic earlier this season in Houston. This weekend gives both teams a chance for a premium series win.

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