Vitello says Vols 'lacked conviction' in College World Series loss to Virginia

AP photo by John Peterson / Virginia's Alex Tappen slides into home plate to score past Tennessee catcher Connor Pavolony in the seventh inning of their College World Series matchup Sunday in Omaha, Neb.
AP photo by John Peterson / Virginia's Alex Tappen slides into home plate to score past Tennessee catcher Connor Pavolony in the seventh inning of their College World Series matchup Sunday in Omaha, Neb.

The Tennessee Volunteers picked a lousy time to endure their third shutout of the college baseball season and their first in more than two months.

Virginia starting pitcher Andrew Abbott and reliever Matt Wyatt combined for 13 strikeouts and repeatedly befuddled Tony Vitello's Vols in a 6-0 blanking Sunday afternoon that suddenly has Tennessee on the brink of elimination at the College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska. Tennessee starter Chad Dallas had a solid outing until the seventh inning, when the Cavaliers collected six singles, including five straight with one out to break the game open before an announced TD Ameritrade Park audience of 22,130.

"Clearly we got beat today in a few different facets," Vitello said afterward on a Zoom call. "Andrew Abbott was outstanding. He was in and out of the zone, and he was clearly effective. I thought there were some moments there, whether on the mound or at the plate, where we lacked conviction, and it cost us a little bit. Towards the end of the game, once the score wasn't what we wanted, we kind of uncharacteristically lost our edge a little bit.

"Vol fans deserved better, because I know they came out in big numbers and have certainly helped us get to this point."

In six innings, Abbott scattered five hits while racking up 10 strikeouts. His stellar performance saddled Dallas with just his second loss of the season and his first since Vanderbilt's Kumar Rocker helped smother the Vols 5-0 on April 16.

"Abbott's fastball was playing up in the zone," Tennessee catcher Connor Pavolony said. "It was on the scouting report that it is a fastball with a high spin rate that plays well up in the zone, and we kind of just fed into what he was trying to do and never made an adjustment. I think that's what he kind of went back to when he needed a strikeout with two strikes, and we just never adjusted to it."

Tennessee (50-17) entered the College World Series having gone a combined 5-0 in its NCAA tournament regional and super regional games, which were held in Knoxville, and Sunday's start was certainly promising. After Dallas needed a mere eight pitches to retire the side in the top of the first, the Vols opened the bottom of the inning with Liam Spence drawing a walk and Max Ferguson ripping a single to right field that put runners on the corners with no outs.

Abbott responded by striking out Jake Rucker, getting Drew Gilbert to pop up to second base and striking out Evan Russell.

Dallas needed only eight pitches again in the second, but his third inning was marred by a one-out home run to right by Cavaliers 8-hole hitter Logan Michaels. It was the first homer of the season for Michaels, who entered Omaha with a .242 average.

The Vols would have three opportunities in the first six innings with two runners on and nobody out, but they never capitalized.

"It definitely impacted the game," Vitello said. "There was a chance to throw a blow in the first inning and then a couple other times, and you don't really know how the game would have changed. Regardless, the narrative still would have been that there were moments when we didn't play baseball the way we need to and the way we're capable of."

Virginia (36-25) maintained its 1-0 lead before erupting in the seventh, with Michaels striking again with a one-out single to center to score Alex Tappen. Michaels scored on a single to right by Chris Newell, which resulted in a 3-0 Cavaliers advantage and a pitching change from Dallas to Sean Hunley.

Hunley gave up RBI singles to the first two batters he faced as Virginia increased its lead to 5-0.

Former Cleveland High School ace Camden Sewell pitched for the Vols in the ninth and was promptly greeted by a Michaels single to right. The Cavaliers loaded the bases with no outs and scored a run to account for the final tally.

The Vols will play again Tuesday afternoon (2 on ESPNU) against Texas, which lost 2-1 to Mississippi State on Sunday night. Vitello said freshman Blade Tidwell will get the start in what suddenly could be the final game of Tennessee's magical season.

Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524. Follow him on Twitter @DavidSPaschall.

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