Vols having to work third shift at SEC tournament
Typically the top seed in a college conference tournament gets some workable starting times, but that has not been the case this week for Tennessee.
Due to the Southeastern Conference having to catch up after three rainsoaked days in Hoover, Alabama, the No. 1 Volunteers began Friday night’s baseball game with LSU at 11:10 Eastern and didn’t complete the 5-2 triumph until Saturday morning at 2:12. Vols starting pitcher Chase Dollander recorded nine strikeouts and nearly worked seven full innings in improving to 9-0 on the season.
Tennessee and Kentucky started Saturday night’s second semifinal at 9:55, with the winner set to play Florida (39-21) in Sunday’s championship game (3 p.m. on ESPN2). The Gators reached the final with a 9-0 blanking of Texas A&M.
“I think that’s a strength of this group,” Tennessee coach Tony Vitello told reporters early Saturday morning when asked about the late starts. “We all have weaknesses, but they’ve been able to manage this deal. We probably have more behavior mistakes on the field than off the field.
“It’s a strength of theirs, and it’s not a worry for the coaches.”
When Dollander was asked about an 11:10 first pitch, he said: “It felt a little weird, to be honest. I just kind of stayed on my routine and chilled out. With these guys, it’s hard to be uptight about anything, because they all make it fun.”
Vols relief pitcher Redmond Walsh, who tied Todd Helton’s program record early Saturday by picking up his 23rd career save, said many players spent Friday watching Netflix or “Obi-Wan Kenobi” on Disney+.
Tennessee took a 51-7 record into Saturday’s semifinal but only a 1-2 mark against the 12th-seeded Wildcats, who eliminated LSU 7-2 Saturday afternoon. The Vols improved to 6-0 against LSU the past two seasons with Friday’s victory, with a lively crowd of 12,215 witnessing that achievement.
“Those are two pretty cool cultures,” Vitello said.