Things seemed to be going great for Tony Vitello and the Tennessee Vols against the Texas A&M Aggies. In an encore to a thrilling championship series win in Omaha last June, Tennessee started off their series with the Aggies in Knoxville on Friday in the strongest way possible.
Tennessee slugged their way to 10 runs and stymied the Aggies at the plate to the tune of no hits to run rule A&M 10-0 on Friday night at Lindsay Nelson Stadium. It seemed like the Vols were about to pour it on the reeling Aggies, who fell to 1-9 in SEC play with the loss.
Boy, things couldn’t have turned out any more differently. Sunday’s finale was moved to a Saturday double header due to weather, and Texas A&M made it a terrible day for the Vols. A&M took the first game on Saturday afternoon 9-3. The Aggies overcame an early Tennessee lead to put 4 earned runs on starter Marcus Phillips, who didn’t make it through 5 innings. They pulled away by giving Nate Snead an uncharacteristically bad outing – 5 R, 4 earned, in 2 IP, finishing the contest with 4 home runs off Tennessee pitching.
The nightcap was even worse. A&M jumped out to a 3-0 lead on a home run by Bear Harrison in the first inning, and the floodgates opened as widely as you’ll see at Lindsey Nelson Stadium for the visitor. A&M clubbed SEVEN home runs by the end of the fifth inning, and it was 14-2 and the game was over. The details don’t really matter, other than the final score, which was 17-6 after 8 innings.
A day you simply have to flush and move on from for Tennessee. It was surely a humbling experience and a reminder that, in the best conference in the country, nothing is a given.
Tennessee gets back at it on Tuesday against Alabama State before a weekend series at Ole Miss.