Tennessee baseball dropped two out of three against in-state rival Vanderbilt as the Vols lost another SEC series, making it the fourth-straight series loss.
Frustration has started to set in for the Vols with the series loss as Tony Vitello and his team look for ways to get wins in the SEC.
After the series loss, Vitello told the players, coaches, and fans that the Vols had to play better, specifically on Saturdays.
"Saturday needs to be better," Vitello said after Sunday's loss. "Day two needs to be better. I don't give a s--t who's pitching or who's playing. (Vols Friday starter) Liam Doyle comes out, and the guy's a freaking warrior, and our guys take on that personality.
"Unfortunately, it's the SEC, so the other team usually has a warrior like JD Thompson, or a guy that's going to be in the big leagues, should be in the big leagues right now, down there in Baton Rouge (Kade Anderson).
"So it's usually kind of a back and forth. But then the next day isn't what it needs to be. I could give you a few conspiracy theories. I think you guys brought that up, I was on the scoreboard."
Saturday games have certainly been a struggle for Tennessee this year. The Vols typically start each series really strong with a Friday night win, but that game is followed by a blowout loss on Saturday, leaving Sunday's game as a must-win to take the series.
In recent weeks, Tennessee has lost that series rubber match on Sunday more often than not, as Tennessee continues to struggle the deeper the weekend series goes.
Vitello also mentioned that outside noise could be hurting his team. With recent series losses, specifically Saturday losses, there have been questions about how good Tennessee actually is this year. Can they repeat? At this point, it doesn't look like it, and it sounds like the players are hearing that noise.
"When the outside noise is loud enough, it starts to creep in, and that can affect you or affect the team as well," Vitello continued. "But it's kind of up to us, as a wise man told us at the beginning of the weekend, was, the best teams or the best things to do in tough times, in particular, is to get closer together."
The series loss also put Tennessee in a position where they will likely not be able to host in the Super Regional Round. D1 Baseball had the Vols as the No. 9 seed in the NCAA Tournament, with the top eight seeds hosting. Vanderbilt was the No. 8 seed, meaning the Vols needed a series win to jump the Commodores.
Tennessee will now look to its final SEC series of the season against Arkansas. The Vols will travel to Fayetteville with hopes to finish the season on a high note before heading to Hoover, Alabama, for the SEC Tournament.