UT baseball sputtering

For a time, Tennessee’s SEC baseball series with Vanderbilt this past weekend looked promising.

The Vols, needing a jolt of adrenaline to stay in the mix for a home regional berth, took the opening game of the weekend series.

As the weekend progressed, Vanderbilt took advantage of some big breaks (like taking an 0-2, two-out pitch over the wall in game two, for example) to take the final two games of the series.

Oh, by the way, the series was played in Knoxville.

One more thing, there’s no shame in losing to Vanderbilt. The Commodores have a very good team, as was on display this past weekend.

The scrutiny of this Tennessee team has been palpable. People are giving up on this team already, suggesting that the Vols aren’t long for the post-season. Of course, the precincts of negative Vol fans are teeming with naysayers…until Tennessee finally does something, then they join in unison: “I knew it all along.”

Folks, this is baseball. More than any other sport, on any given day, a marginal team can take down a powerhouse. It happens every day at all levels. The sun gets in the eye of an All-American or All-Star outfielder and the misplay costs his team three runs (or starts a big rally). A routine ground ball finds a rock in the infield and takes a bad hop. Instead of two out and runner at first, now you have runners on the corners with one out and an RBI threat coming to the plate.

Maybe your ace pitcher is having an off day. Even in 1968, St. Louis pitcher Bob Gibson, boasting a 1.12 ERA with 22 victories, lost nine games. He even lost Game 7 of the ’68 Series to Mickey Lolich and the Detroit Tigers.

Even as good as Gibson was, he had chinks in his armor. Sometimes in baseball, things just happen.

Like the title of Joe Garagiola’s book suggests, baseball is a funny game.

And so it is for the Vols.

Sure, time is running out for Tennessee…in the regular season. The Vols are 39-13 with 12 losses coming in the SEC. A strong finish will go a long way. Tennessee has a non-conference game against former Bethel VSAC rival Belmont Tuesday. Tennessee heads west to visit Arkansas to close the regular season this weekend.

Arkansas is a solid team and has been for several years now (that’s where Tennessee coach Tony Vitello was once an assistant, oh by the way). It stands to reason that the Vols could struggle for a game or two.

Keep in mind that Tennessee could rehabilitate itself by doing well in the SEC tournament. How big would an SEC title be? It might even put the Vols back in that homefield-advantage strata.

Okay, what if the Vols don’t win it, or last only a day or two in the event? They hit the road to play in the regionals.

Is that so bad?

Looking at their dossier, it appears the Vols are a little bit better on the road than they are at home, for some odd reason. If Tennessee is dispatched to the road for the regionals, there’s no reason why Tennessee can’t do well there. We’re talking about the defending national champion here. This team has faced adversity before.

This team has faced scrutiny before, too. Early in the season, after ripping off 20 straight victories, including a three-game sweep of visiting Florida, the Vols laid a mid-week egg against East Tennessee State. That inexplicable early-season loss happens every year, it seems. Tennessee Tech comes to mind.

Folks, this team is fine and still has some time to rehab itself and make an exciting run to another national title. Whether or not Tennessee can replicate its success of last year remains to be seen.

Whatever the case, this team is still in the mix.

That counts for something.

Jim Steele is a correspondent for Richardson Media Group and can be reached via email at pressbox1@gmail.com.