Three weeks will separate Tennessee’s regular-season finale at Arkansas on May 17 and Saturday’s opener of the NCAA tournament’s Fayetteville Super Regional in the very same Baum-Walker Stadium.
A lot has happened for Tony Vitello’s Volunteers in between.
The Vols went 2-1 at the Southeastern Conference tournament in Hoover, Alabama, with their victory over top-seeded Texas and their trip to the semifinals helping clinch the No. 14 overall seed in NCAA play. That was followed by a 3-1 showing at last weekend’s Knoxville Regional, when Tennessee had to rebound from Sunday night’s 7-6 loss to Wake Forest with Monday night’s 11-5 topping of the Demon Deacons to punch its ticket to Fayetteville.
“Every game since we played there has basically been cutthroat,” Vitello said Thursday afternoon in a news conference. “I know it’s a double-elimination format once you get to the regional, but our guys in Hoover looked tremendous against Alabama right out of the chute, and that Texas game was an ESPN classic. It didn’t go the way we wanted in that third game (against Vanderbilt), and then we go to the regionals. All of those scenarios were great for our team.
“We’re a little more experienced now and have a little more maturity. You can blame me, or you can blame the other coaches, but it’s been a year when you’ve tried to sort out what your lineup will be and when you want certain pitchers to go. I think we have a better understanding of that now than we did then.”
Saturday’s opener in the best-of-three series between the Razorbacks (46-13) and Vols (46-17) has a 5 p.m. Eastern start, with Sunday’s second game scheduled for 3 p.m. Both will be televised by ESPN, and if a third and deciding contest is necessary, it will take place Monday.
Marcus Phillips started the last series opener at Arkansas, with Liam Doyle starting the middle game and Tegan Kuhns the finale. Doyle started last Friday’s Knoxville Regional opener against Miami of Ohio and threw 104 pitches, and he threw 31 more Monday night in recording the final seven outs.
Vitello did not reveal the pitching order against the Razorbacks, who earned the No. 3 seed in the 64-team field and are the highest remaining seed after No. 1 Vanderbilt and No. 2 Texas were eliminated in regionals.
“If I’m not mistaken, as we now stand, they’re the No. 1 seed and the favorite to win the whole thing,” Vitello said. “They’re good, and we learned that the last time. That hasn’t changed.”
In the regular-season series, Tennessee won the first game 10-7 before Arkansas took the next two by 8-6 and 8-4 scores. In their 8-6 win, the Razorbacks lit up Doyle for 11 hits and eight runs, with six of them earned.
The Vols committed four errors in that series compared to one by Arkansas.
“Looking at everything that went on in the first series, we need to try to eliminate any mistakes that are obvious,” Vitello said. “We also need to go in there playing the way we’re playing now. The skill set is very high in both dugouts, and I think when we went there, the mindset and mentality wasn’t where it needed to be.
“Our guys realize that a fresh start is a great thing. Last weekend was awesome, and that game was epic on Monday. These are some memories that will never go away, but now that we’ve had a couple of days, our guys are ready to move on to a new fresh start.”
It will be a new look at catcher for the Vols on Saturday, with Stone Lawless taking over for Cannon Peebles, who was ejected late in Monday’s win and must sit out the opener. Lawless has not started behind the plate since the May 13 win over Belmont.
“I know this isn’t an SEC series, but he has caught in SEC games, and we’ve won some of those games, too,” Vitello said. “He’s prepared. You’re not going to find a coach of ours who is not excited to see him play, and the same could be said for any of our pitchers getting to throw to him and enjoying that camaraderie.”
Rhudy commits
Former Gordon Lee High School standout Bo Rhudy announced Thursday that he will be continuing his career at Tennessee.
The 6-foot-4, 225-pounder from Chickamauga was a sophomore this past season at Kennesaw State, appearing in 21 games and posting a 3.16 earned run average with five saves. He struck out 44 batters in 37 innings pitched.
“All glory to God,” Rhudy posted on social media. “I couldn’t be more excited for the next chapter.”
Roster reshaping
The Vols also have commitments from UNC Asheville pitcher Clay Edmondson, MIT pitcher Mason Estrada and Walters State infielder Tyler Myatt.
Edmondson compiled a 5-1 record and a 2.20 ERA in 13 starts this season, tallying 87 strikeouts in 82 innings, while Estrada went 6-0 with a 2.21 ERA in 10 starts, racking up 66 strikeouts in 40 innings. Myatt, who is from Tazewell, Tennessee, hit .484 in 66 games with 31 home runs and 110 RBIs.
Leaving Tennessee already via the transfer portal have been redshirt freshman pitcher Bryson Thacker and freshman infielders Jack Jones and Robinson Martin. Thacker didn’t allow a run in four innings this season but had not pitched since April 15 against Bellarmine. Jones and Martin did not make any appearances this season.
Ford visits Vols
Former Baylor School standout Henry Ford, who just finished his sophomore season as a Virginia right fielder, visited Tennessee on Thursday.
The 6-5, 225-pounder from Charlottesville, Virginia, hit .362 in 50 games with 11 home runs and 46 RBIs for the Cavaliers, who went 32-18 and just missed out on being selected for the NCAA tournament. He hit .336 as a freshman last year in 61 games, amassing a freshman-record 17 homers and a whopping 69 RBIs.
Ford is a draft-eligible sophomore who has widely been pegged as a second- or third-round selection in next month’s Major League Baseball draft.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com.