The biggest reason why Tennessee baseball lost to Notre Dame in the Super Regional
The Tennessee Vols' loss to the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in the Super Regional this past weekend was one of the most shocking sports moments of the year. Tennessee was undoubtedly the best team in college baseball this season. The Vols won 57 games while mowing through their competition. UT was the favorite to win […]
The Tennessee Vols' loss to the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in the Super Regional this past weekend was one of the most shocking sports moments of the year.
Tennessee was undoubtedly the best team in college baseball this season. The Vols won 57 games while mowing through their competition. UT was the favorite to win it all in Omaha this month, but now they won't even be making the trip to Nebraska.
So why did the Vols lose to Notre Dame this past weekend?
It was all about the bullpen according to 104.5 The Zone's Jason Martin and Ramon Foster, the hosts of JMart and Ramon.
The popular Nashville-based morning show discussed the Vols' season-ending loss on Monday and they specifically pointed out Notre Dame's bullpen as one of the main reasons the Irish were able to take two out of three from Tennessee.
"They (Notre Dame) had depth," said Martin. "That's what we had kind of figured out last week. Tennessee had a great ERA, but Notre Dame had a very solid ERA and they had bullpen pitching. If they could get leads early, you felt better about their ability to hold on as opposed to Campbell or Georgia Tech the week before."
"When [Notre Dame] brought in 24 (Jack Findlay) yesterday, just like [they] brought him in on Friday, he got it done."
Bullpens can win and lose a game for a baseball team. On Tennessee's side of things, they probably should've gone to the bullpen sooner in game three, instead of sticking with starter Chase Burns in the seventh inning (Burns had only pitched seven innings once in 2022). If the Vols go to the bullpen to start the seventh inning, maybe the outcome of the game is different.
Of course, that's just how it goes in baseball. If Burns gets through the seventh unscathed then Tony Vitello looks like a genius. Hindsight is 20/20 and all the Vols can do now is start getting ready for the 2023 season.
Featured image via Saul Young/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK
