Vanderbilt baseball's fourth loss to Tennessee this season highlights a startling trend
HOOVER, Ala. — Vanderbilt baseball losing to Tennessee in 2022 is nothing new. Thursday's 10-1 loss to the top-ranked Vols in the SEC Tournament marked the fourth time it has happened this season in four tries.
The Vols are the better team — Tim Corbin admitted it in his postgame news conference.
But with regionals approaching and the Commodores bound to be a 2-seed, they will need to find a way to beat better teams. Vanderbilt has a 7-16 record against teams ranked in the RPI top 25, meaning the issues goes beyond facing the Vols.
Thursday's game was a thorough drubbing, as Vanderbilt committed four errors, forced only two scoreless frames and mustered only a solo home run from shortstop Carter Young on offense. This on the heels of a weekend sweep against LSU in which the Commodores pitchers struggled to get outs.
"I think (we'll) let it set in tonight for an hour or two, and then move on," first baseman Dominic Keegan said.
Freshman left-hander Devin Futrell, who dazzled in midweek starts for the first few months of the season, including one against Louisville, lasted 2⅓ innings and gave up four runs with one walk and one strikeout. Futrell gave up four runs in five innings against Arkansas and five runs in 1⅓ innings against LSU.
"We've seen a lot of good offenses," Corbin said. "This has to be at the top. But when you're a young kid and you're pitching against this offense, it's an experience, and you've got to learn from it. You understand that balls that sometimes you can get away with against different people are challenged at this level. The resistance is more, especially against this group. It's experience for them. I'm not going to tell you whether they're pleasant. You're sitting there and watching it, it's tough. ... The kids are playing the game, and they don't feel good about that.
" ... We threw a young kid who hasn't had a lot of experience in the conference, but he did the best he could. We did not play very good defense, and we extended innings. But listen, they were the better team."
Next, Vanderbilt will face either LSU or Kentucky in the losers bracket Friday, with the winner advancing to Saturday and the loser being eliminated.
The Commodores undoubtedly feel the sting of going 0-for-4 against their rival. That could be somewhat erased if they can make a long run in the postseason. For that to happen, Vanderbilt will need to learn to beat teams just like the Vols. It just hasn't shown that ability yet.
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Aria Gerson covers Vanderbilt athletics for The Tennessean. Contact her at agerson@gannett.com or on Twitter @aria_gerson.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Vanderbilt baseball's four losses to Tennessee part of larger problem
