Nichols: In Knoxville Regional, Tennessee Reiterates Refusal to Lose
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Throughout this season, No. 1 Tennessee has ridden atop a euphoric, dominant wave.
The Vols have reached 56 wins, a new season-high for the program Tony Vitello has turned into a juggernaut, with a best-team-ever record still within reach.
The Vols have won two SEC titles, one in the regular season and one in the SEC Tournament, each for the first time since 1995.
The Vols have led the nation in home runs, as well as pretty much every other category in the record book, since the beginning of this season.
So, what haven’t the Vols done, at least not to the point of fans being comfortable in postseason moments like the ones presented in the past 72 hours?
Stage mind-blowing comebacks.
Granted, this Regional wasn’t supposed to present an opportunity for even one of those situations.
As the top overall seed, Tennessee was supposed to cruise through 27 innings and book its ticket for next weekend’s Super Regional matchup against the winner of the Statesboro regional.
The Vols did just that on Friday against Alabama State, dispatching the Hornets 10-0 in a five-homer slugfest that was over before it started.
After that, though? An error-prone UT defense and some dangerously quiet innings made fans squirm for two days in a row when the Vols trailed 4-0 to Campbell and Georgia Tech, respectively.
“I think the Regional was what it was supposed to be — a bunch of teams with really good offenses,” said Tony Vitello on Sunday, his statement beginning to bleed into losing-coach-speak territory. “Our team was challenged to the fullest. It’ll make us better.”
And yet…
“There’s a little something to this group,” Vitello added later. “If something goes wrong, they sort of rally around each other.
I’m thankful to be a part of it.”
And Tennessee fans, summoning all weekend the thunderous roar that brought those Lindsey Nelson Stadium renovation plans to life, seemed awfully thankful, too.
Because here came the Vols, two nights in a row, storming back from two separate deficits to clinch a Regional title and advance to the program’s second consecutive Super Regional weekend.
UT took down a feisty Campbell team 12-5 on Saturday, a Drew Gilbert go-ahead homer giving way to a Blake Burke bomb before Cortland Lawson sealed the deal with an insurance shot in the ninth.
And let’s not forget the pitching job Kirby Connell turned in, as the one they call “Vollie Fingers” tossed three scoreless innings to help the Vols pull out a W.
Then came Sunday, as a Camels team that bludgeoned Georgia Tech on Friday suddenly couldn’t score against the red-hot Yellowjackets. Instead, Georgia Tech pummeled the Camels 16-5 before changing uniforms and exploding again against the Vols for an early 4-0 lead.
Tennessee chipped away, but by the time the ninth inning rolled around, the Vols had only managed three runs despite plenty of chances to capitalize.
Suddenly, UT teetered on the brink of a Monday matchup in which it would have to play for its life against a team oozing with confidence and a top draft pick in Kevin Parada.
Not so fast, however.
As easily as Tennessee had breezed through the first eight innings with little to show for those missed opportunities, the Vols stacked hit after hit and run after run for six consecutive runs — good enough for a 9-4 lead going into the bottom half of the final inning.
The Yellowjackets threatened again with a pair of runs and a bases-loaded situation that could have spelled disaster, but Redmond Walsh wiggled out of the jam to preserve a 9-6 win.
So, just as predicted, Tennessee will move on to next weekend’s Super Regional — also in Knoxville — against Notre Dame.
Few times this season, though, have we seen this team’s “never say die” attitude on display like it was this weekend.
No matter the opponent, score or situation, these Vols just kept finding ways to succeed — just like they have at other crucial points in Vitello’s tenure.
"I don't think we fear many people,” said Jordan Beck, who knocked a game-tying RBI double (complete with Honcho-esque signage) on Sunday. “Even when we're down, it just gives us motivation.
The games are more fun when they're close, and it brings the competitiveness out of us."
Will Mabrey, after pitching the Vols out of a similar jam on Sunday as what Connell did on Saturday, offered similar insight: “In the dugout, we act like maniacs. But it really just fires us up and gets us going.”
What could have also fired up the Vols? Evan Russell’s Friday night absence, which led to plenty of speculation and a horrid moment from ESPN announcer Troy Elkund that left Tennessee fans angry and Tony Vitello indifferent and Jason Russell — Evan’s father — forgiving.
Russell returned to form on Sunday, helping Tennessee storm back as fans across the stadium chanted the name of this team’s undisputed leader.
Whether Russell is in the dugout or not, though, it’s easy to see the Vols’ formulas for winning: 1) jump out to an early lead and keep it that way, or 2) fall behind, then slowly grow angry enough that the entire team, quite literally, refuses to lose.
Fans might prefer Option A. The growth of college baseball might prefer Option B.
Either way you stack it, though? This Tennessee team — as bird-flipping, comeback-staging and fearless as it continues to prove it is — feels as inevitable as the tide.
That’s not a bad way to roar into next weekend — two wins away from a return trip to Omaha, a few more from reaching the quietly-predicted yet not-yet-uttered glory of which this group has long been capable.