Tennessee baseball went from road woes to road warriors on way back to Omaha
The outfield fence at Charles Schwab Field in Omaha, site of the College World Series, runs anywhere from 15-18 feet deeper than the one at Lindsey Nelson Stadium in Knoxville. But during Thursday’s workout, the bigger park didn’t feel all that different to Tennessee redshirt sophomore Jared Dickey.
“I mean, if it plays the way it did today,” Dickey said during Thursday evening’s Tennessee press conference, “then I would say we’re in pretty good shape. It was flying out to all parts of the field.
“We’ve also got some pretty strong guys on the team, so that probably helps a little bit. If it plays like it did today, then I would say we’re in a good spot.”
The Vols have been in a much better spot away from home the last two weeks. Then again, the road woes couldn’t have been much worse during the regular season.
Vols back in Omaha after going 5-1 away from home in NCAA Tournament play
Tennessee won just four of 16 road games during the season, including six straight losses to start the road schedule. The Vols were swept by Missouri to start SEC play in March. There was another sweep at Arkansas and losses in two of three games at LSU and Georgia later down the road.
Finally the tide started to turn at South Carolina in the final series of the regular season, with Tennessee winning two of three. What followed, though, was a 3-0 loss to Texas A&M in the first round of the SEC Tournament in Hoover, with Tennessee going home after being held to just one hit by the Aggies.
“Honestly,” pitcher Camden Sewell said, “it got to the point in the season where we kind of made jokes about it. It was like, ‘Oh, we saved them all towards the end of the year,’ So we kind of used that motto and ran with that.”
“Hmm,” Tennessee coach Tony Vitello cracked after Sewell’s comment. “I didn’t think it was funny.”
But now Tennessee (43-20) has ran all the way to Omaha after going 5-1 away from home during the NCAA Tournament’s Regional and Super Regional rounds. Next up is No. 5-seed LSU (48-15) on Saturday (7 p.m. Eastern Time, TV: ESPN) in the final game of the opening round at the College World Series.
Up Next: Tennessee vs. No. 5 LSU, Saturday, 7 p.m. ET, ESPN
The Vols swept through the Clemson Regional two weeks ago, beating Charlotte twice and taking down No. 4-seed Clemson 6-5 in 14 innings.
Tennessee was sent back on the road for its Super Regional, losing Game 1 at Southern Miss before rallying from down 4-0 to win 8-4 in Game 2, then 5-0 in Game 3 to punch their ticket to the College World Series for the second time in three years.
“I think down the stretch,” Dickey said, “we kind of just decided (winning away from home is) what we’ve got to do if we want to go all the way. So just having that mindset and coming together as a team, I think it helped us a lot.”
Now the mindset shifts from getting back to Omaha to sticking around in Omaha. In 2021, Tennessee was headed home after going 0-2, losing to Virginia and Texas in the double-elimination format.
“I think kids, fans, media members, players, anyone would crawl through glass, or whatever phrase you want to use,” Vitello said, “to get here in any way, shape, or form … The boys have been road-weary, but once you get here, the adrenaline spikes up immediately.
“I think are back to full strength energy-wise,” Vitello added, “and the next thing will be to manage it as best they can as we kind of wait our turn to play Saturday night. “
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