My goodness, that one hurts. Tennessee had more than enough opportunities to win the game, but they just couldn’t find the big hit when they needed it. In the end, the Vols suffered a brutal 14-inning loss to ECU to open NCAA Tournament play. Tennessee threw the first haymaker of the game on a solo shot by Reese Chapman, but after that, ECU kept punching first. The first tournament game of the Josh Elander era ends in a crushing defeat.
Tennessee was down to its final out when third baseman Henry Ford delivered a huge home run. The Vols were trailing 2-1 with their backs against the wall in the bottom of the ninth. Ford stayed patient and worked the count to 2-1. He sat on a fastball and absolutely crushed a high heater to deep left field, tying the game at two apiece. Tennessee instantly went from being on the brink of going to the losers' bracket to putting all the pressure on ECU. However, from there, Tenense could never get it done.
After Brandon Arvidson gave up the go-ahead run in the ninth, Bo Rhudy stepped up in a huge way. He was outstanding in a pressure-packed situation, getting Tennessee out of trouble and keeping things under control in extra innings. Rhudy threw four innings and allowed just one run. Will Haas gave up three runs, and Cameron Appenzeller gave up one. The bullpen had such a great outing until the 14th inning, when the game was tied, and then the opponent scored four runs.
3 runs in 14 innings is unacceptable for Tennessee
The frustrating thing is that every time Tennessee had a chance to put the game away, they just couldn’t capitalize. The Vols got leadoff singles in both the 11th and 12th innings but couldn’t bring either runner home. Elander tried just about everything to win. He tried sacrifice bunts, squeeze attempts, pinch runners, but nothing seemed to work. What makes the loss even tougher is that the bullpen actually did its job. Tennessee’s bullpen has been the biggest concern all season, yet it pitched well enough to win this game. Eventually, it cracked, but not before giving the offense plenty of chances. When Tennessee goes 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position and ECU goes 4-for-13, the result is hard to overcome.
Evan Blanco gave Tennessee exactly what it needed, tossing seven innings and allowing just one run. Once again, the pitching staff delivered in the postseason, but the offense did it no favors. Now the Vols will play at noon tomorrow against the loser of VCU and North Carolina. Tennessee is expected to turn to Tegan Kuhns on the mound as it tries to keep its season alive and make a run to the Super Regionals.
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