Vitello’s Vols start year 1-2
Well, that didn’t quite go as planned.
Tennessee’s trip to the MLB Desert Invitational in Arizona this weekend yielded a 1-2 record for the nation’s second-ranked baseball team. The Volunteers opened their muchanticipated year with a 3-1 loss to Arizona on Friday night and followed that with a 4-3, error-plagued setback Saturday night against Grand Canyon.
The Vols finally broke through Sunday afternoon with a 7-0 trouncing of UC San Diego.
“We came here for a good reason,” Tennessee coach Tony Vitello told reporters late Saturday night. “It’s a great tournament with great venues and good competition. This may be a theme we better get used to. Good pitching means close games, and if we are playing good defense behind our guys, I think we’ll be in every game, but we’re going to have to find ways to win games maybe in different style that we did last year.”
Drew Beam pitched six scoreless innings Sunday, racking up six strikeouts and allowing just three hits. Blake Burke went 2-for-4 with a triple and a home run, while Christian Moore also homered.
UC San Diego was the weakest of Tennessee’s opening opponents, having gone 24-32 last year. Arizona went 39-25 last season and was eliminated in an NCAA regional with two losses to Ole Miss, the eventual national champion, while Grand Canyon also reached an NCAA regional and finished with a 41-21 record that included the Western Athletic Conference’s regular-season title with a 25-5 mark.
The Vols committed three errors against Grand Canyon, as their 3-1 lead in the fifth inning gave way to a one-run loss.
“We’re still trying to figure out what we’ve got and what we don’t have,” Vitello said after Sunday’s win. “Unfortunately we’re going home with some ideas of what we don’t have and what we need to get better at.”
Tennessee, which didn’t lose its second game last season until April 12, will stage its Lindsey Nelson Stadium opener Tuesday afternoon at 4:30 against Alabama State.