Just a day before Tennessee’s 2020 SEC slate was set to begin the Vols season came to a sudden end. After the NCAA canceled its annual College World Series in June due to the coronavirus, the SEC didn’t rule out playing games and the annual SEC Tournament in Hoover.

On Friday what little hope there was for play to resume in 2020 seemed to disappear as the conference extended its all sports suspension to the middle of April while announcing no one could practice during the time off.

Tennessee’s season ends with a 15-2 record as the Vols swept the Round Rock Classic, including a win over national title contender Texas Tech.

The Vols’ upward trajectory under Tony Vitello looked poised to continue in his third season. The Big Orange had a balanced lineup that could hit for power as well as improved depth in the field and on the mound.

Was Tennessee ready to compete with Florida, Vanderbilt and Georgia in the SEC east, three teams that were in the nation’s top six before the sudden end to the season? We will never know.

If junior LHP Garrett Crochet performed like the projected top 10 pick he is I think the Vols would have competed well against the top of its division. But even if Crochet wasn’t the workhorse Vitello and company thought he would be, this team proved last season was no fluke and Tennessee will have to be taken serious as long as Vitello is at the helm.

For the first time in a decade and a half, Tennessee was going to compete to host a regional in 2020.

Assisted by a relatively weak pre-conference slate, Tennessee will end the season ranked fifth nationally in ERA and batting average while ranking second with 31 home runs. Tennessee was ready to compete in 2020, but that will have to wait another year.

The NCAA seems poised to grant an extra year of eligibility to every spring sport senior, but how would that affect Tennessee?

In comparison to the rest of the country, very little. Tennessee has just three seniors on its 2020 roster in relief pitcher Will Heflin, backup catcher Landon Gray and Pete Derkay, who saw playing time either in the designated hitter spot or while pinch hitting.

Heflin was already a fifth-year senior who went through senior day a season ago because he was unsure whether he would return for his final year of eligibility. After spending the last sixth months rehabbing a torn ACL one would think Heflin would return for a sixth year on Rocky Top, but I’m not sure it’s a given.

Nationally, it will be interesting to watch what percentage of players return for a second senior season. While I’m sure all players will want another go around, baseball players typically receive only a 33% scholarship. For a lot of players, especially those good enough to try their hand at minor league baseball, it would be a tough financial decision to pay tens of thousands of dollars for a fifth year.

Tennessee’s two biggest stars, Garrett Crochet and Alerick Soularie, will both be draft eligible in June and one would think they’d both try their luck in professional baseball.

Soularie has been active on social media the past few days, asking the NCAA for, “my season back,” as well as stating he believed this year’s team could have made the College World Series. Regardless, I think Soularie will be hard pressed to turn down a start to his professional career.

With Tennessee not having many seniors to begin with, and with the possibility of still losing some of its best pieces it will be all about continued development for its current roster.

Sophomores Jake Rucker, Connor Pavolony and Max Ferguson made big jumps from their freshman season. Next season, as juniors, those three need to be top end SEC hitters who along with Zach Daniels can lead the Vols’ offense.

Without the boost of having a big group of seniors come back, Tennessee will also need its current freshman to make a jump to help provide a boost and depth. Outfielders Jordan Beck and Drew Gilbert were poised to make an impact as freshmen. If they can make jumps similar to Rucker, Ferguson and Pavolony Tennessee’s lineup will be even better a year from now.

On the mound, Tennessee’s freshman pitchers Drew Gilbert, Mark McLaughlin, Christian Delashmit, Kirby Connell and Will Mabrey all flashed at times this season, but mostly against lesser competition. Who in that group can step up and be a reliable arm for Tennessee next year will be a main question this offseason.

Tennessee’s 2020 campaign was off to a promising start before coming to a quick finish, but we learned the 2019 season was no fluke and that with Vitello around the NCAA Tournament is likely to be the new norm in Knoxville.