KNOXVILLE - When it comes to Dave Serrano's future at Tennessee, the embattled baseball coach said Tuesday night that only one opinion matters, and it belongs to new athletic director John Currie.
"I will continue to work hard and dedicated for this university until John Currie tells me my opportunity has been taken away," Serrano said after his team's 14-8 win against Belmont at Lindsey Nelson Stadium.
Currie, who started as athletic director on April 1, made his first coaching move last week, when he fired men's tennis coach Sam Winterbotham.
Opinions over which coach could be next to go have been swirling in the Knoxville sports media cycle since, with much of the focus landing on Serrano, who is in his sixth year leading the baseball program.
Serrano's record at Tennessee is 155-157, and his record against Southeastern Conference opponents is 55-114.
The Vols have yet to make an NCAA tournament under Serrano but have qualified for three consecutive SEC tournaments for the first time since 1995-97. But the Vols have lost in the first round each time.
Tennessee finds itself in a fight to make the conference tournament again this year with a 25-19 (7-15 SEC) record entering the final two weekends of SEC play. The Belmont win improved the Vols' record against in-state teams to 8-4 for the season.
"I think you saw again tonight we have a bright future with some of the young guys we have in the lineup that performed very well tonight," Serrano said after his team muscled 12 hits against the Bruins. "My hope is that I get to see them through their future here at the University of Tennessee."
The Vols cracked the national Top 25 during a 12-2 start this season but struggled to a 1-8 beginning in the SEC. The Vols are 6-7 in the conference since and have become more reliant on freshmen as the season has progressed.
Freshmen Luc Lipcius, Andre Lipcius, Pete Derkay, Will Heflin, Justin Ammons have become regular members of the lineup, and classmates Garrett Stallings and Zach Linginfelter have had consistent success on the mound as the season has progressed.
The Vols are slotted 43rd in the RPI but sit at 12th in the 14-team SEC.
Tennessee has not made the NCAA tournament since 2005, when it qualified for the College World Series under Rod Delmonico, who coached the Vols from 1990 to 2007. Delmonico led Tennessee to a 699-396 record and three CWS appearances before then-athletic director Mike Hamilton fired him after the team missed the NCAA tournament in 2006 and 2007.
Hamilton hired Todd Raleigh, who failed to make the conference tournament, let alone the NCAA postseason, during his four seasons atop the program.
Serrano took over in 2012 as a hire of interim athletic director Joan Cronan. Former athletic director Dave Hart extended Serrano's contract to cover this season after the team went 29-28 in 2016.
The coach said Tuesday that he has not spoken with his team about this year's wave of uncertainty surrounding his future.
"I try to stay focused in terms of what we're trying to do. There are a lot of opinions out there. I get it," Serrano said. "There's only one opinion that matters, and that's John Currie."
Serrano is a former Tennessee assistant (1995-96), who came to Knoxville from Cal State Fullerton, where he took a team to the 2009 College World Series. He is one of just 12 coaches to lead two schools to the World Series. He also took UC Irvine in 2007.
Tennessee cracked the Top 25 early in 2014 but struggled in conference play. The Vols began the 2015 season ranked 25th but finished 24-26 (11-18 SEC), even with touted professional prospects A.J. Simcox, Christin Stewart and Nick Senzel.
The Vols play Eastern Kentucky tonight before traveling a little farther up Interstate 75 to play ninth-ranked Kentucky in a weekend series. They close the regular season at home next week against Morehead State and Missouri.
Softball Vols earn top SEC honors
Tennessee's Meghan Gregg is the SEC softball player of the year, the league announced Tuesday. The junior shortstop is batting .448 and is second in the nation with 71 runs batted in.
Vols pitcher Caylan Arnold was named SEC freshman of the year. The Maryville native is 19-7 with a 1.90 earned run average in 36 appearances. Sophomores Brooke Vines and Matty Moss were named to the All-SEC second team. Chelsea Seggern joined Arnold on the all-freshman team.
The ninth-ranked Vols (44-9) open SEC tournament play Thursday at 7:30 p.m. in Knoxville.
Contact staff writer David Cobb at dcobb@timesfreepress.com.