Tennessee struggled on the week dropping its first series of the young season to Wright State. The Vols bats took a major step back against the Raiders as little mistakes gave Tennessee problems on the weekend.

Let’s take a look back at a tough weekend for the Vols and look ahead to the start of conference play.

1. Tennessee’s bats take a step back- Tennessee’s offense had its biggest day of the season on Tuesday night when they scored 28 runs against Longwood. The Vols offense followed up the performance with their worst weekend of the season.

Tennessee scored just 10 runs on the weekend against Wright State, who entered the weekend ranked 242nd out of 298 in the nation in ERA. The Raiders pitching staff cut its previous team ERA in half against the Vols posting a 3.46 mark on the weekend.

Tennessee had five players hit over .286 on the weekend, but the rest of the team gave the Vols little production. No one else for Tennessee hit over .154 or had an on-base percentage over .273. Tennessee entered the weekend with the nation’s best batting average but posted just a .231 mark on the weekend.

Some of Tennessee’s best bats struggled as Luc Lipcius, Zach Daniels and Al Soularie combined for just four hits in the series.

Wright State is not as bad as their 5-9 record suggests, but the Raiders pitchers struggled mightily against Mississippi State and Auburn where they gave up a combined 47 runs.

The Vols offensive struggles were definitely worrisome but not the end of the world. The Vols offense needs its top guys to give them more consistent production going into SEC play, and Tennessee also needs to be better with runners in-scoring position and situationally.

2. Small mistakes cost Tennessee- The Vols cost themselves with small mistakes this weekend both in the field and at the plate.

With the series opener tied at four in the bottom of the eighth, Tennessee had runners on first and second with nobody out. Austin Knight pinch hit for Tennessee to sac bunt, but the sophomore pulled back on two called strikes before going down swinging. The Vols would go on to load the bases, but wouldn’t get the go-ahead run in.

It wouldn’t be the last mistake that would cost Tennessee in Friday’s game. The top of the ninth opened with a Trey Lipscomb throwing error that allowed the leadoff man to reach second.

It would come back to cost the Vols as a two-out single brought in the go-ahead run.

The Vols mistakes showed up at critical times again the rest of the weekend. Wright State’s lone run of Saturday’s matchup came with runners on first and second with two outs. Jackson Leath's pick off attempt went into right field bringing the Raiders within one.

Tennessee also struggled with runners in-scoring position on the weekend, hitting just .200. The Vols also failed to get runners from third home with less than two outs on multiple occasions.

3. Crochet looks good in debut- One of the few positives of the weekend for Tennessee was Garrett Crochet. Crochet made his 2020 debut on Saturday and impressed turning in 3.1 scoreless innings.

Crochet gave up just two hits and struck out six of the 13 batters he faced. Even more impressively, Crochet wasn’t just overpowering the Raiders with his fastball.

The junior was having to use his off-speed stuff to get strikeouts, including a punchout with a nasty changeup, a pitch he spent his offseason working on.

Crochet threw 42 pitches Saturday, and Vitello said he could have thrown a little longer. Crochet will likely be on a pitch count again next week against South Carolina, but he should be able to give the Vols a weekend start.

Tennessee was just being cautious with Crochet over the season’s first few weeks, but his performance was a good sign as the Vols look to get a top end SEC starter.

"Yeah, I'd like to think I could,” Crochet said on whether he felt like he could’ve pitched earlier in the season. “I mean I threw a regional with a broken jaw so I'd like to think there's nothing I can't do. But like I said Coach V just wanted to be extra cautious with everything going on this year and I'm glad he did."

1. Does Tennessee have top end SEC pitching?

Tennessee’s pitching staff has been strong throughout the first few weeks of the season flashing great depth without some of its top arms.

The question is whether the Vols weekend starters can consistently give Tennessee strong innings. Crochet looked great in his debut and looks like he’ll be a high-end starter.

In Crochet’s absence the Vols were starting Chad Dallas and Chase Wallace on the weekend’s while using an opener on Sundays.

Dallas has been solid but is just averaging over five innings an outing. That mark is certainly serviceable for Tennessee, but the Vols need him to keep the same pace against SEC opponents.

Tennessee needs another weekend starter to emerge as a consistent option. Chase Wallace hasn’t been bad during the pre-conference slate, but the junior has given the Vols just 18 innings in four starts while posting a 3.50 ERA.

Vitello said Wallace isn’t locked into a starting spot at this point, and Tennessee needs more from that spot as it gets into SEC play.

“I think it should be competition every week for a travel spot, a weekend rotation spot and stuff like that,” Vitello said. “We'll take a look at it, but eventually what we have to have, and it may not be a while, is you have to have three guys that can give you five innings."

Camden Sewell was available this weekend but didn’t see action. He has the potential to be a solid weekend starter for the Vols. Sean Hunley could also fill into a starter role, but his versatility and consistency make him a weapon in the Vols bullpen

Jackson Leath has excellent stuff but has been better out of the bullpen so far this season.

Tennessee needs to get more consistency from its weekend starters. The Vols have plenty of options but need one to step up.

2. Can Tennessee end struggles at South Carolina?

Columbia has been a house of horrors for the Big Orange since the Gamecocks joined the SEC in 1992. The Vols have lost 11 straight games in Columbia, getting swept their last three series at Founders Park.

Tennessee hasn’t won a series in Columbia since 2006 and have an 11-31 record at Carolina since the Gamecocks joined the league.

This year’s South Carolina team isn’t as strong as many of the ones that have given Tennessee problems, but it will be a challenging weekend for the Vols in the Palmetto State.

The Gamecocks currently hold a 11-4 record, dropping series at home to Northwestern and at Clemson.

Tennessee took two out of three over South Carolina last season in Knoxville, but the Gamecocks are improved this season and will provide a tough SEC opening series. It’s a big one for Tennessee as they look to get off to a strong start to SEC play.

With the defending National Champs coming to Knoxville the second week of conference play a series opening win would be big for Tennessee.

Tennessee’s pitching shows well in Columbia

I don’t know how the Vols will show next weekend in Columbia to open SEC play. I think Tennessee has shown to be better than South Carolina, but the Gamecocks are improved from last season and will be a tough test for the Vols.

I do think Tennessee’s pitching staff will show well on the weekend in Columbia. Sean Hunley and Redmond Walsh have proven to be two of the best bullpen arms in the league.

The Vols pitching staff could also be getting bumps on the weekend with Camden Sewell likely to return to action and Will Heflin getting closer to returning after tearing his ACL in the fall.

The Gamecocks have a solid offense, scoring just over six runs a game, but they don’t have the power at the plate they had a year ago.

I don’t know if Tennessee will win its SEC opening series, but I expect the Vols pitching to be its strength in Columbia.