OXFORD — All eyes in the college baseball world were on Oxford, Mississippi over the weekend as No. 5 Tennessee hit the road for its first conference series away from Lindsey Nelson Stadium.
The Vols proceeded to outscore the top-ranked Rebels 26-7 and pull off a sweep. Tennessee dominated on Friday and Saturday, winning 12-1 and 10-3, respectively. It then closed the weekend out with a thrilling 4-3 win on Sunday.
We look back at the sweep and look ahead in the baseball 3-2-1.
THREE OBSERVATIONS
Tennessee’s rotation dominates
Tennessee produced plenty of runs over the weekend, but it was the pitching staff that led the charge.
Ole Miss entered the weekend as one of the most prolific offenses in the country. The Rebels’ 9.7 runs per game ranked ninth in college baseball, while they also ranked eighth in slugging percentage, 14th in on-base percentage and 15th in home runs.
The Vols’ starting rotation of Chase Burns, Chase Dollander and Drew Beam limited Ole Miss to two runs in three games, one home run and struck them out 27 times.
“It’s hard to think what this team is going to look like when we have Blade Tidwell and Seth Halvorsen because to be honest,” Evan Russell said after Sunday’s game. “I don’t know that we haven’t skipped a beat with the three guys we’ve had on the mound. But to have those guys coming back and be healthy, it’s just going to stack us up even more. We have a lot of options and a lot of different looks.”
Burns started off the weekend with a dominant seven scoreless innings on Friday. He struck out 11, gave up one earned run and two hits on a season-high 106 pitches. He didn’t walk a single Rebel and improved to 5-0 on the season.
Dollander put up double-digit strikeouts as well, striking out 10 on Saturday night to improve to 4-0. He didn’t give up a run, walked just one and allowed only three hits on 100 pitches in 6.1 innings of work. Eighty of his pitches were strikes.
Beam closed out the weekend with six strikeouts over 7.1 innings. The freshman didn’t allow a walk, allowed just one run and gave up three hits on 91 pitches to improve to 5-0.
Offense can produce runs in a variety of ways
There was a lot of talk entering the weekend about how Tennessee’s offense produces a lot of runs because it hits home runs inside of a small stadium in Knoxville
One national media member mentioned that the Vols wouldn’t have the benefit of hitting in “Williamsport” — the home of the Little League World Series — this weekend in Oxford. It didn’t matter though. Tennessee scored 27 runs on 36 hits, and although it hit five home runs in the opener on Friday, it didn’t hit a single long ball over the final two games of the series.
Despite not hitting a home run on Saturday and Sunday, the Vols still managed to score 14 runs on 27 hits. Seven of Tennessee’s nine hitters hit .273 or better for the weekend, while four of them hit better than .330.
The only person to not drive in a run in Tennessee’s lineup this weekend? Jordan Beck, who will likely be a first round draft pick in June.
Vols unanimously No. 1
Tennessee is officially No. 1 in the country. As the calendar flips to April, the Vols sit atop all six of college baseball's major top 25 polls following their sweep of Ole Miss. It’s the first time in program history that Tennessee has been ranked No. 1 in each poll.
With three wins in Oxford this weekend, the Vols recorded their first ever series sweep over a top-ranked team and their fourth, fifth and sixth wins over No. 1 ranked opponents (any poll) since Tony Vitello took over as head coach in 2018. Tennessee is 6-6 in games against top-ranked teams in that span.
The Vols' first game in action as the top-ranked team will be on Wednesday when it hosts Western Carolina at 5:30 p.m. ET. They’ll then head to Nashville this weekend to take on No. 9 Vanderbilt.
TWO QUESTIONS
When will Blade Tidwell be back?
This week.
Tidwell was available to pitch on Saturday and Sunday against Ole Miss, Tony Vitello told Volquest following Saturday’s game. However, the situation never presented itself. Tidwell did warm up during the ninth inning of Sunday’s game.
“I told Blade to go warm up and I think he was shocked,” Vitello said. “He ran about as quick as any of our track athletes to the bullpen. But he felt good down there.
"It's about time. I'm tired of getting text messages that are basically death threats from the kid."
Vitello would go on to say that "it would be nice" to get Tidwell "some activity" this week, but they "don't want to define which day it is" because they want it to fit what they're looking for.
Tidwell and fellow injured RHP Seth Halvorsen will prepare to come out of the bullpen upon their return, according to Vitello, until they build up their pitch count "and then we'll see what is the best thing for us to do.”
Is defense a huge concern?
Not yet, but it’s certainly something to keep an eye on after Tennessee committed six errors over the weekend. One error in the ninth inning of Sunday’s game nearly cost the Vols the sweep.
Tennessee is currently middle of the field in the SEC in terms of defense. Its fielding percentage of .977 through 24 games ranks eighth in the SEC, while its 20 errors also rank eighth.
Defense has been a strong suit under Vitello and some of Tennessee’s errors over the weekend were uncharacteristic. Vitello’s bunch gets the benefit of the doubt for now and will only improve throughout the remainder of the season.
ONE PREDICTION
Vols win the series on West End
Tennessee now turns its attention to rival Vanderbilt. The Vols will travel to the ninth-ranked Commodores this weekend for a three-game series beginning on Friday.
Vanderbilt is once again a threat to make it to Omaha, as it is loaded with talent per usual under Tim Corbin, but it’s not the juggernaut we’ve come to know over the last decade.
They may prove to be in the long run, but young pitching cost the Commodores at South Carolina this past weekend where an average Gamecocks club took two of three. As was the case in Oxford, I expect Tennessee to take advantage of an inexperienced staff on the mound while the starting rotation repeats its success.
