Have you heard the news? The sky has fallen.
Tennessee baseball didn’t make it back to Omaha. The season ended Sunday afternoon in the Fayetteville Super Regional. The Vols dropped out quietly. Arkansas romped, 11-4. It was so easy, the big crowd called the hogs just five or six times.
Vol superstar Liam Doyle was less than effective, much as he was at Arkansas in mid-May. This time he lasted three and two-thirds innings. Tony Vitello’s relief rotation was worse. Tennessee heavy hitters again hit lightly.
There were a couple of early turning points. With Vols on all the bases and no outs in the third inning, Andrew Fischer bounced into a hop-hop double play. One run scored.
The Razorbacks won the game with five runs in the fourth. Trouble started with a pair of singles off Doyle. A wild pitch went to the backstop. Charles Davalan, who threatened to break some windows with a two-run homer off the Vol starter in the third inning, was intentionally walked.
The Southeastern Conference pitcher of the year was removed after 73 pitches. Quick hook? I don’t think he liked that a lot but Vitello probably saw he was laboring. Razorbacks were not swinging at his high hard ones.
“Liam is always going to tell you he’s 1,000 percent,” the coach said. “Who is to say he wouldn’t have got the next guy out. I wish I had all those answers. We’d be in a different spot right now.”
First replacement Brayden Krenzel threw a curve in the dirt that went for a wild pitch. He hit a batter. Vitello called AJ Russell to put out the fire. Logan Maxwell greeted him with a grand slam.
“I thought I made a good pitch,” said Russell. “It carried a little more than I anticipated … I kind of thought it was a fly out off the bat … he just made a good swing on it … one through nine, they’re really good and if you make a mistake, that stuff happens.”

Jay Abernathy
After it was 7-1, what happened didn’t matter much. Vol followers did get a little lift in the ninth. Freshman Jay Abernathy hit a pinch-hit two-run homer.
Doyle, destined to be a high draft choice, may not remember Arkansas adventures fondly. In the last series of the regular season, he was cuffed around for 11 hits and six earned runs, worst outing of the year. This time he was charged with five runs on five hits.
So, the ending was disappointing. The Vols finished 46-19. The team went from a very fast start and No. 1 in the country to 16-14 against SEC foes. It appeared to have a bit more potential. It lost a lot of rubber games.
“Sunday games, we didn’t score enough runs,” said Vitello. “We were a little short of having a third starter and having a named closer and a couple other things. We had good arms. Not crying about that. We got some guys that made some money for themselves this year.”
Did I hear you say Vitello is losing it, that he spent the year resting on the laurels of last season?
You got to be kidding. There can’t be many people in America with a greater desire to win. Consider consistency. The Vols have been to five supers in a row. That is unmatched in college baseball.
Vitello is already at work on next season but he’ll invest a few more minutes on this last game.
“Congrats to Arkansas,” he said. He seems to think the Razorbacks are good enough to win the College World Series.
“It’s a hell of a lineup. It might be the most complete lineup in the conference. Can’t speak for the country, haven’t seen everybody.”
Losing to a good team helped a little bit. Vitello had an interesting line on that.
“This league is insane, especially in our sport, what it’ll do to you. I think we all have a certain amount of respect for each other
“My closing words – none of them were any good – to our guys were I hope they take pride in what they did this year and kind of what they put together … they will remember today all day long, but I hope when they wake up tomorrow, they remember that last game at Lindsey Nelson Stadium that they won.”
Marvin West welcomes comments or questions from readers. His address is marvinwest75@gmail.com
Good job Mr. West. Now we can rest up a couple of months as we prepare for the unknown of UT Football! Thanks to Marvin for exposing us to some of the best writing in wins and losses. Maybe some have come to recognize his greatness. I sure have…..
Tony V OR Frank Anderson; couldn’t seem to get the pitching thing right. In yesterday’s game, the pitcher came in from the bullpen and threw a home run ball…….In Saturday’s game and the previous game with Wake, the starter stayed in one batter too long, throwing a home run ball. NOT Good.
Well, their backs were to the wall. With their hands tied and blindfolded, their choices were to 1) take it like a man or 2) charge the shooters, hope all nine guns jam and head butt them. As Marvin reports, “they went quietly.” A 46-19 pace would usually get one into the World Series in the Bigs, but, alas, this is only college. Finish Lindsey and have at it next year.