Tennessee's pathway to next week's College World Series championship matchup became a lot more difficult due to Sunday's 6-0 opening loss to Virginia, but it's certainly attainable.
The Southeastern Conference tournament late last month proved that.
"It's nice when things go the way that they did in the regional and in the super regional, but to be honest with you, our brand name is to bounce back and to answer," Tennessee coach Tony Vitello said on a Zoom call following the loss to the Cavaliers. "There is no need to stew. There is extra time between games, so we will prepare to answer back in the fashion that they have done, and Hoover (Alabama) is an example.
"The teams here are pretty special, but the teams in our league are downright good, too. It's an instance they can call on and learn from, and they can basically use the blueprint from there."
The Volunteers were seeded second at the SEC tournament behind top-ranked Arkansas but stumbled in their opening game against 10th-seeded Alabama, falling 3-2 in 11 innings. Tennessee rebounded by whipping Mississippi State, Alabama and Florida by the combined score of 27-2 until falling to the Razorbacks in the title contest.
Tennessee head coach Tony Vitello reacts to a call during an NCAA college baseball super regional game against LSU, Sunday, June 13, 2021, in Knoxville, Tenn. (AP Photo/Wade Payne)To begin a similar journey at TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha, Nebraska, the NCAA tournament's third-seeded Vols (50-17) must top second-seeded Texas (47-16) on Tuesday afternoon (2 on ESPNU) in a pairing of the highest remaining seeds from the original 64-team field. Freshman pitcher Blade Tidwell (10-3, 3.57) is scheduled to start for Tennessee.
"The stage is different, but I don't think this is any different than the SEC tournament in terms of competition and in terms of the park," Vols catcher Connor Pavolony said. "There are more seats here, but I think this team is built for this. When we do lose a game, we come back and want to win the next one a little bit more, and I think that's exactly what we're going to do on Tuesday."
Texas arrived at an elimination game by dropping a 2-1 decision Sunday night to Mississippi State.
Had Tennessee lost two straight games at the start of the SEC tournament, the Vols were still assured of hosting a super regional provided they advanced in their regional. Two straight losses in Omaha results in the end of a season.
"We're built for this," Vitello said, "and it will be up to them and the coaching staff to gather up that same approach we had in Hoover."
Said Pavolony: "I don't think we need to approach this any differently. We just need to be ourselves."
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.