A forgettable weekend for Tennessee ended in its second-straight series loss at Lindsey Nelson Stadium on Sunday.
It also resulted in a drop in the latest D1Baseball Top 25 this week.
TALK ABOUT IT IN THE ROCKY TOP FORUM
The Vols, who lost two out of three to Kentucky, dropped two spots to No. 6 in the poll on Monday.
Tennessee (33-7, 12-6 SEC) won the first game, 8-2 on Friday behind another dominant outing from starting left-handed pitcher Liam Doyle and two home runs from catcher Cannon Peebles.
The Vols’ infield defense struggled over the next two games, combining for four errors while struggling at the plate in a 4-1 and 6-3 loss on Saturday and Sunday.
The losses marked the first time under head coach Tony Vitello that Tennessee has lost consecutive home series. The Vols lost the series to Texas A&M in Knoxville two weeks ago before rebounding with a series win at Ole Miss last week.
“A whole laundry list of items (lost the series),” Vitello told reporters Sunday. “The attitude and the vibe wasn’t very good. It was frustration. And I think sometimes I our guys have success and then think it’s going to be handed to them. And they’ve made adjustments in the past and we didn’t necessarily do that today. But again, didn’t play catch. (Saturday) was the walks, and errors was well over what (Kentucky’s) were…we had a couple errors, they didn’t have any. And then two, I mean the vibe of the game or the mojo of the game kind of involves offense and defense.
“And for whatever reason, us not playing catch I think bled into a little bit of frustration at the plate. And if you’re frustrated at the plate, it affects the scoreboard and what’s going on there. A laundry list that would fall under the category of team.”
Vols one of 10 SEC teams ranked
Tennessee is the third highest ranked SEC team this week.
Texas maintained its No. 1 billing after sweeping a ranked Auburn team at home this past weekend, while Arkansas dropped to No. 5 following a series loss to Texas A&M.
LSU was up two spots to No. 7 and Vanderbilt jumped into the top 10 at No. 9 in the wake of a series win over Georgia, which tumbled to No. 10.
Auburn fell to No. 11 and Oklahoma moved up four spots to No. 14 with its sweep of Missouri.
Alabama was No. 18 and Ole Miss No. 23 after series losses to LSU and South Carolina, respectively.
Road tilt at LSU awaits Tennessee
Tennessee will complete its homestand against Lipscomb (18-20) on Tuesday at Lindsey Nelson Stadium (6 p.m. ET, SEC Network+).
The Bison upset the Vols in the last meeting between the two teams in Knoxville last season.
Tennessee will go back on the road for a top 10 series with LSU (34-7, 12-6) at Alex Box Stadium this weekend.
The Vols lost the series, 2-3 in their last visit to Baton Rouge in 2023, but swept the Tigers at home in 2024.
Tennessee and LSU will open the series on Friday at 7:30 p.m. ET (SEC Network+), with Game 2 slated for Saturday at 8 p.m. (ESPNU) and Game 3 on Sunday at 3 p.m. (SEC Network).
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