STARKVILLE, Miss. — Tennessee’s baseball team has made a habit of playing and winning close games this season.
It caught up to the Volunteers this weekend.
UT was swept in an SEC series for the first time this season after dropping two extra-inning games at Mississippi State on Thursday night and Saturday afternoon.
“That was tough,” first-year Vols coach Dave Serrano said after Saturday’s 3-2 loss in 14 innings. “There really aren’t words to describe what transpired this weekend. We’ll go back to the drawing board and have to come up with some things to get this team over the hump of what we’ve experienced this weekend, but we are not dead in the water.”
Getting over the hump in close games hadn’t been difficult for the gritty Vols (22-18, 7-11 SEC) this season. UT entered the series 15-7 in games decided by three runs or less, a record that included a sweep of Alabama and wins against quality conference opponents like Georgia, Kentucky, South Carolina and Florida. Before the Bulldogs’ sweep, the Vols were 3-3 in extra-inning games.