GAINESVILLE — No. 1 Tennessee travelled to The Swamp this weekend and swept the Gators in Gainesville for the first time since 2001.
We look back at the sweep and look ahead in the baseball 3-2-1.
THREE OBSERVATIONS
Winning close games
It was business as usual this weekend for Tony Vitello’s Vols.
Tennessee defeated Florida on Friday night 8-2 and then 3-0 on Saturday night before putting together a thrilling 6-4 win on Sunday to complete the sweep.
It may have been business as usual for these Vols, but the way in which they won this weekend will help them in the long-run. Far more than some of the non-competitive games they have won this year.
Making it back to Omaha and winning the National Championship is the ultimate goal for these Vols. If they pull off the program’s first title, it’ll be because they won close games throughout the postseason.
Very few non-competitive games will be played throughout Tennessee’s run to a potential title. It’ll also have to win games in different ways. The Vols won’t just be able to coast to the finish line.
That’s why this weekend’s sweep of Florida will serve them well in the long run. Sure, the weekend ended with the same result as all of the other weekend’s up until this point, but Tennessee had to come up with new ways to win.
First and foremost, it did so without Vitello as if it didn’t matter. Tennessee’s skipper served the final two games of his four-game suspension on Friday and Saturday, and all UT did was outscore Florida 11-2 over 18 innings, speaking to the significance of the program’s culture.
Sunday’s game nearly resulted in the Vols being no-hit. Tennessee didn’t record a hit until the seventh inning when Drew Gilbert smoked a triple.
And even then, it took scoring three runs in the top of the ninth to tie the game and send it to extra innings where in the 11th, freshman Christian Moore hit what proved to be a game-winning two-run homer.
The Vols had to execute in many ways throughout two close baseball games this weekend and they did. It’ll serve them as well as anything else could in the long run.
Blade Tidwell looks like Blade Tidwell
Tennessee was without the SEC's leader in strikeouts in game two. You wouldn't have known watching Blade Tidwell pitch as he led the Vols to a 3-0 win to secure a series win.
It was Tidwell’s first SEC start of the season as he started in place of fellow sophomore right-hander Chase Dollander, who was injured last Saturday against Alabama when he was struck by a line drive.
Having not thrown more than two innings in any outing this season, Tidwell threw 74 pitches over 4.1 scoreless innings to earn his first win of the season. He struck out five, allowed just two hits and walked just one Gator.
Blade Tidwell looked like Blade Tidwell in his first legitimate start of the season and that’s a scary thought for opposing teams.
Chase Burns bounces back
Tidwell returning to the starting rotation wasn’t the only positive development for Tennessee’s rotation.
Chase Burns looked like Chase Burns once again.
Burns pitched at least five innings in his first seven outings as a Vol. He didn't allow more than two earned runs in any of those starts, and he only allowed more than one earned run once.
The Gallatin, Tennessee native ran into some trouble after three starts in SEC play, however.
Against Missouri on April 8, Burns lasted just 2.2 innings, which still stands as his shortest outing of the season. He tied a season-high in walks with four.
Burns then suffered his first loss of the season a week later on April 15 against No. 24 Alabama. He only lasted three innings and allowed a season-high four earned runs on a season-high seven hits allowed.
In his first start following the back-to-back poor outings, he allowed just one earned run over the course of 6.1 innings to guide the Vols to an 8-2 win over the Gators.
Burns struck out five as he improved to 7-1 on the season. He did give up three walks, but limited the damage as he pitched out of a couple of jams. The Gators only tallied two hits as Burns threw 98 pitches, 56 of which were strikes.
TWO QUESTIONS
So what happens with the rotation?
Welcome back from suspension Mr. Vitello. Your first order of business? Deciding which one of your four premium starters is not going to start moving forward.
Dollander missed his start against the Gators, opening the door for Tidwell, but Dollander isn't expect to be out much longer, if at all.
Vitello has four arms in Tidwell, Dollander, Burns and freshman Drew Beam that would start on Friday night for just about every school in the country. The problem is there's only three spots to fill.
There isn’t an obvious answer either, which means Vitello can’t go wrong with any decision he decides to make. It’ll just be unfortunate that one of the four won’t be starting games because they each deserve to do so.
It's a great problem to have though and one Vitello will be happy to deal with.
Is it really that big of a deal what Vitello’s decision ends up being?
No. It’s really not.
Here’s why: there’s only four weekends of SEC Baseball remaining before the SEC Tournament begins.
The weekend in Hoover requires a much different pitching plan than the regular season does, as does the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament and a potential two-week stay in Omaha.
When those take place, the Vols will need to have four starters. That’s what separates the great teams from the good teams year in and year out — pitching depth. It’s something that Tennessee will have and other teams won’t.
So, sure, Vitello and pitching coach Frank Anderson will have to make a tough decision over these next four weeks, but it shouldn’t really matter who is left out of the rotation. The goal should be to have all four primed and ready to go for the postseason.
Make sure Dollander and Tidwell are 100 percent healthy. Make sure Burns continues to regain the from we saw the first half of the season. Don’t allow an off outing for Beam at Florida on Sunday to spiral out of control.
ONE PREDICTION
Go ahead and crown the Vols
One reason Tennessee can go ahead and begin planning for the postseason is because it already has the SEC wrapped up.
The Vols sit at 17-1 in SEC play following their sweep of the Gators. Georgia is in second place in the East at 11-7, six games out, while Arkansas is in second place in the SEC as a whole at 12-6, five games out, respectively.
It would take Tennessee going .500 over its final 12 SEC games and Arkansas winning out for the Vols to not win the SEC regular season title. In the East, the path is much harder for the Bulldogs to steal the division.
Tennessee simply isn’t choking its lead away.
