Vols prepare to take on top-ranked LSU in ‘crazy environment’
Last season, Tennessee baseball was by far the best team in the country during the regular season.
The team finished the year 57-9 with an SEC Regular Season and Tournament championship before being bounced in the Super Regional.
Due to this, every game the Vols appeared in caught the attention of the college baseball landscape.
Although this season hasn't featured the same historically great start as last year, Tennessee has still garnered attention as one of the nation's premier teams.
With a trip to Baton Rouge to face top-ranked LSU set for this weekend, there certainly won't be a shortage of recognition and fireworks as the pair of teams square off.
Not only are the squads both national title contenders, but the programs have also built the beginning of a rivalry in previous years.
In the 2021 Super Regional, Tennessee welcomed the Tigers to Knoxville with a trip to the College World Series on the line. What resulted was consecutive wins for the Vols as they clinched a birth to Omaha.
Earlier that season, Tennessee also managed a regular seasons sweep over LSU that sparked complaints from the Tigers' coach, Paul Mainieri.
This caused further frustration as the loss in the Super Regional marked the end of Maineri's career.
Last season, the teams met again in the SEC Tournament. That postseason match also resulted in a Vols win as they managed a 5-2 victory.
This recent feud will likely result in an even rowdier crowd at Alex Box Stadium during the upcoming weekend.
"Down there, you got a pretty cool culture, and those people are looking for a party," said Tennessee coach Tony Vitello. "They’re looking for a reason to tailgate, and then a reason to cheer on the team that they cheer on. There’s other schools down there that have other athletic departments that are really good, but they’re passionate fans. It’s just an environment, and then when you go on the road, in general in our league, it’s difficult."
The only player on the team to actually experience the Tigers' home-field advantage has been Alabama transfer Zane Denton.
While a member of the Tide, he was able to make the trip to Baton Rouge in 2021.
"Especially a place like LSU, it's going to be a crazy environment," said Denton. "It's one of the craziest places I've played at. Really just looking forward to that opportunity."
Due to the Vols' current six-game win streak, LSU most recently took down Tennessee in April of 2017.
However, the last time the Vols stole a game in Baton Rouge was in 2014. The last time they claimed a series there was in 2009.
If Tennessee hopes to change history, it will have to overcome the road struggles it has faced early in the year, though. In games away from Knoxville, the team is 1-5. This includes an 0-4 record in true road games.
Despite the challenges of traveling to a hostile environment that the team has faced this year, the Vols have been largely successful under Vitello during his tenure.
Last year, they went 19-4 in games away from home.
"When you go on the road, it can be more challenging," said Vitello. "It has been a thing here for a few of the years we’ve been here where the guys almost look forward to it more and we do have success... But the bottom line is you gotta go play baseball, and you need to be there every day. If you have a day where you’re not mentally locked in, you’re going to get exposed, even if we’re at home but even more so on the road.”
The team is excited about this challenge, though.
This excitement has been met with preparation for the series. The Vols know what they need to do to win.
"Just being ourselves," said Tennessee pitcher Chase Dollander. "We can't really think too far ahead. Just like I've said before, if you do that, you just kind of get messed up a little bit. We're preparing now. We're preparing the best we possibly can. You just kind of have to go out there and trust your stuff and trust the guys behind you."
Although this is just Dollander's second year in Knoxville, this won't be his first time facing the Tigers.
The Vols' ace was on the mound for the 5-2 SEC Tournament win in 2022.
In the match, Dollander finished with 6.2 innings pitched while giving up two runs with just one earned. This came on four hits and two walks as he struck out nine batters, as well.
"I thought it was a lot of fun," said Dollander. "The crowd was insane. It was probably the biggest crowd I've ever pitched in front of. Both sides were really loud. Both sides were really good that year. I executed pitches like I needed to and that's all I can really do. Once it leaves my hand, there's nothing else I can really do about it."
This time, Dollander will have one of the best pitchers in the country on the rubber while his offense is at work.
Paul Skenes is the fourth-highest-rated MLB Draft prospect and the second-ranked pitcher in the class. He currently owns a 5-0 record while earning a 0.59 ERA and just 12 hits in 30.1 innings pitched.
While Dollander sits at second overall and the top pitcher in the class, Thursday's matchup will feature possibly the two best arms in the nation.
However, there's no shortage of strong bats in LSU's lineup, either. Headling the offense is top-ranked draft prospect Dylan Crews.
So far, he has lived up to the enormous hype in his junior year. He is slugging for a .542 batting average and .667 on-base percentage while cranking nine home runs.
"About (LSU), you got the core group of guys that have been there for a while," said Vitello. "You gotta be careful about being a fan of other guys when you’re competing against them, but it’s cool to watch some of the guys that are in the league when they’re young and then see them keep getting better and better.
"And they had some guys that were freshmen playing for them a couple years ago here that were already really good, and obviously, they’re better now. And then there’s some other guys on the roster that we don’t know yet because we haven’t dove into the scouting report until this thing’s over with Asheville. But, you know the guys that we recruited, too, that recently or somewhat relatively recently chose to go down there. So there will be some familiar faces, one way or another, and we’ll get a little more familiar with them between now and the first pitch.”
First pitch of the decisive series will take place on Thursday with Skenes and Dollander on the mound. It is set for 8 p.m. ET and will air on ESPNU.
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