Dan Fleser
In his opening statement following Tennessee baseball’s season-ending loss at Arkansas on Sunday, Tony Vitello apologized to the fan base for the Vols not making a return trip to Omaha, Neb., and the College World Series.
There likely were several reasons why UT’s coach felt compelled to express regret. Perhaps one of them has reached its expiration date.
This team had the unenviable task of following last season’s national championship squad. The inherent challenge would have been daunting regardless. This group took a stab at it without five hitters who smashed at least 20 homers apiece in 2024. The weekend starting rotation of pitchers also departed.
Under the circumstances, what Vitello said to the players afterward deserved its place in the post mortem as well.
“Trust me, I got as high a standards as anybody but my closing words – none of them were any good – to the guys were I hope they can take pride in what they did this year and kind of what they put together.”
Some Vols had even more to savor. Sunday’s game capped center fielder Hunter Ensley’s five-year career, during which the Vols won a natty, went to the CWS three times and won two SEC regular-season championships along with two conference tournament titles. Tennessee is the only program nationally to reach the Super Regional round in each of the past five seasons.
“I feel like we accomplished a lot in five years,” Ensley said. “It’s pretty exciting seeing the way this program is going.”
Given the roster attrition, winning 46 games this season versus an SEC schedule that included road trips to Arkansas and LSU, who will play this weekend in Omaha, is not regrettable. The hitters mustered 131 homers, which ranked second nationally. Starting pitcher Liam Doyle, who transferred from Ole Miss, became a finalist for three national player awards.
The roster still possessed good quality. It just didn’t have the same quantity. The Vols were short a third starter and an established closer. Their defense was sketchy. When some of their bats – most notably Tennessee’s outfielders – went silent in the postseason, the team suffered accordingly.
Tennessee had to use Doyle twice last weekend to get through its home regional. Vitello thought the workload, especially the relief appearance on Monday against Wake Forest, took a toll. The junior left-hander struggled enough to be pulled in the fourth inning on Sunday, a decision that was ripe for second-guessing after a subsequent wild pitch led to a run and Logan Maxwell’s fly ball sailed into UT’s bullpen for a crushing grand slam.
“I mean Liam’s always going to tell you he’s 1,000 percent,” Vitello said. “Let the guy die on a shield or go out on a shield. Who’s to say he wouldn’t have gotten him out. So, I wish I had all those answers. We’d be in a different spot.”
Jay Abernathy’s 429-foot, ninth-inning home run also amplified a prevailing chat-room theme that had been calling for the freshman to replace Dalton Bargo in left field. While Tennessee’s outfielders were a combined 7-for-65 at bat in the tournament, Bargo went 1-for-23.
“Maybe Jay’s deal is a little bit of symbolism there that the future is not bleak at the very least,” Vitello said.
At the very least, the future ought not to suffer as much by comparison to the past.
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Dan Fleser is a 1980 graduate of the University of Missouri, who has covered University of Tennessee athletics since 1988. He is a member of the Tennessee Sportswriters, U.S Basketball Writers and Greater Knoxville Sports Halls of Fame. He can be reached at [email protected].