By Jay King
CHAPEL HILL, NC. – When a team hits a game-tying home run in the bottom of the ninth to send it into extras, normally that means that the team goes on to win the game.
That was not the case for Tennessee today.
The Volunteers once again snatched defeat from the jaws of victory in a 14-inning, 4 1/2-hour marathon, falling 7-3.
This is just another of the handful of painful defeats the Vols have suffered this season.
“As long as you got another chance to play another game, you got a chance,” said head coach Josh Elander.
The issue today was how bad the hitting was in walk-off situations. In situations to win the game, the Volunteers went 2-for-15, and those two hits were singles.
The only time Tennessee seemed to have fight late in the game was when they were losing. This was how the game went into extras – with a Henry Ford home run to tie it up with two outs in the bottom of the ninth.
The Volunteers were able to give fans another glimmer of hope when they were trailing by one in the 13th by scoring a run to tie it up again, but it was all for nothing.
Tennessee even had a runner on third after tying it up in the 13th with only one out, but they could not get anything going.
This game was a massive waste of great games from Evan Blanco and Bo Rhudy. Blanco had seven innings and only gave up one run, and Rhudy had four strikeouts in four innings.
Blanco has had postseason experience before when he was at Virginia, and it showed. He was one of the bright spots today.
“I use that experience to my advantage,” said Blanco. “I think my stuff was decent today.”
That is another issue facing the Vols, as they had to use four pitchers today, making it harder for them later on in this tournament. Will Haas or Cam Appenzeller may be available later on, but Bo Rhudy and Evan Blanco are essentially out due to their work rate.
Tennessee had 18 strikeouts as a team – ECU had only nine; add that to the list of reasons the Volunteers now face a very difficult road for the rest of Regional play.
UP NEXT – What is unique about this tournament is that it is double elimination, so Tennessee is still alive even after its loss. The issue is that the Volunteers now have a terrible disadvantage without their mulligan. It is now do-or-die time for Tennessee.
What is required now? Four wins in three days now to escape the regional. This includes winning Saturday’s game, sweeping a Sunday doubleheader, and winning on Monday.
Teams that fall in an NCAA Regional opener have only a 3.1% chance of coming out on top of the rest of the field.
Tennessee will take to the field at UNC tomorrow at 12 p.m. EST versus the loser of the North Carolina-VCU game.
If Tennessee loses tomorrow, it will not make it past the regional round for the first time since 2019, when it also lost in the Chapel Hill regional. That was Tony Vitello’s first tournament appearance as head coach of the Vols.
Elander is making sure that history will not repeat itself, but it is looking likely at the moment. The team is still trying to be positive, though, as they go through a gauntlet.
“They have all experienced [a painful tournament loss] now, so they can put this one in their back pocket,” said Elander.