Vols' own dominance might have cost them breaking one of the most impossible records in college baseball history
Let me be clear up front for the naysayers: I am NOT saying the Tennessee Vols' championship season should have gone any way other than the terrific way that it did. The 2024 College World Series champions had a run unlike anyone has seen in decades. In fact, it was the first time since 1989 […]
Let me be clear up front for the naysayers: I am NOT saying the Tennessee Vols' championship season should have gone any way other than the terrific way that it did. The 2024 College World Series champions had a run unlike anyone has seen in decades. In fact, it was the first time since 1989 that any team had won 60 games and claimed the title.
However, a rule change in 2023 might have kept the Vols from reaching a mark in the college baseball record books that no one thought was possible to reach. The SEC changed the rules in 2023 which included implementing a 10-run rule or "mercy" rule after the 7th inning. According to Tennessee's Stats and Info department, the Vols sacrificed 22 innings this season due to the run rule.
Across 73 games, the Vols batted in 601 innings. That number includes games where the Vols were leading as the home team and didn't have to bat in the ninth inning, as well as the run rule innings cut out. With 184 home runs hit, that comes out to an average of 0.306 home runs per inning. Take that average and multiply it by the 22 innings they lost out on due to the run rule being in place, and that comes to 6.73 home runs.
As the Vols were just 4 home runs short this year of tying the 1997 LSU Tigers' 188, it's more than fair to say that they would have reached it had they been playing in a season before the run rule was implemented in February 2023.
Regardless, it was obviously the greatest season in the history of Tennessee baseball, and it is one of the best and most memorable in any sport in the history of the university. Tennessee thrilled with the long ball and with their passion and energy on the field.
And maybe, just maybe, when the home run record is mentioned down the line, someone will point out that the 2024 Tennessee Vols were literally just too dominant for their own good there.
