Sam Scott: The Start of the Serrano Era

Before the first game, I believed in Dave Serrano. After 4 years of Todd Raleigh, 4 years of losing records, and 4 years without an SEC tournament appearance. There wasn’t a doubt that Tennessee needed a change.

They went out and got a coach who has already led two different teams to Omaha, there are only 10 other coaches in the NCAA that can say that. As recruiting coordinator at Cal State Fullerton for eight years, every class was in the top 20 nationally, so he can recruit. He developed six pitchers into Big West Conference Pitchers of the year, so he can develop talent. He led UC Irvine to their first College World Series in his third year as head coach, so he can lead a team. Tennessee has a winner in Dave Serrano.

Four games is a small sample size, but consider this, Dave Serrano is the first coach in 104 years to begin his career 4-0, and one of three to ever pull that off at Tennessee.

The weekend series saw Tennessee dominate Northern Illinois with great pitching and explosive offense. Serrano’s teams, offensively, are dead set on scoring runs, whatever it takes. They are aggressive on the base paths, they call for hit and runs, and they put down bunts.

For example, in last night’s game against Western Kentucky, Chris Fritts was on first with two outs in the bottom of the twelfth, down a run, Tennessee was down to their final out. The pitcher threw one into the dirt, not a pass ball, just barely got away from the catcher. Fritts took off, without hesitation he was gone and he beat the throw by a second. The next play a single advanced Fritts to third. The next hitter, Wes Walker, hit a blooper that just barely dropped into right, Fritts scored. If he hadn’t of taken that base he would not have scored. This team is aggressive on the base paths.

Tennessee still has a lot to learn, and lot of areas to improve upon. In the second game of the NIU series, Tennessee stranded 12 base runners. They won the game, but against tougher opponents down the road, the Vols will have to find ways to get those runners in.

And last night, Tennessee blew a 5-2 lead in the 7th when they committed three costly errors. So there are struggles for this team, 4-0 hasn’t been a cake walk.

But if anything, this team plays baseball. There were two separate occasions last night where the Vols needed to score to stay alive. They came through both times. Even after playing the longest game in school history, the Vols kept fighting. They have a completely different look under Serrano. That in, and of itself, is plenty to be excited about, amongst other things.

There will be struggles this season, four of Tennessee’s division opponents are top-15 in the nation, including #1 Florida. Tennessee’s schedule is currently ranked 11th in strength rankings. But I believe in Dave Serrano. If anything, he knows the way to Omaha, and at Tennessee, he has started the journey to get there.