AUBURN, Ala. — Tennessee’s baseball team had a rough weekend on and off the field this weekend.
Not only were the Volunteers swept by Auburn, but they also saw closer Nick Blount abruptly dismissed from the team for violating team rules.
The Tigers outscored UT 35-12 in handing the Vols their second consecutive SEC sweep and knocking them down to 11th in the conference standings. UT (22-22, 7-14 SEC) is two games back of Vanderbilt and Georgia for the 10th and final spot in the SEC tournament, which the Vols haven’t made since 2007.
“We create things for the other team and they take advantage of it,” first-year UT coach Dave Serrano said after Sunday’s 11-4 loss in which the Vols led 4-1 through three innings. “We’re getting those opportunities, too, but aren’t taking advantage. For some reason we are going through this.
“I can only look at it one way, and that is that we will become stronger because of it. We just have to continue to grind through it.”