Tennessee first-year baseball coach Josh Elander is experiencing something Tony Vitello never did during his last five seasons guiding the Volunteers.
Being 0-1 in an NCAA tournament regional.
Walker Barron’s leadoff home run to left field in the 14th inning opened the floodgates to East Carolina’s four-run barrage as the third-seeded Pirates outlasted the second-seeded Vols 7-3 Friday afternoon at the Chapel Hill Regional inside North Carolina’s Boshamer Stadium. Tennessee used 14 position players and five pitchers during the depleting four-hour and 31-minute marathon.
“What a crazy game,” Elander said afterward in a press conference. “There was a lot of back and forth and a lot of guys competing at a high level in a great environment. They were a little bit better at executing than we were today, and that was the difference.
“We just need to put this one in our back pocket and hit the reset button as soon as we can.”