Code’s Corner: Recapping a wild week of Tennessee sports
In a weekend that saw Tennessee Baseball drop the opening conference series to Alabama and the basketball team get eliminated early in the SEC Tournament by Mississippi State, there were some positives.
The Lady Vols softball team SWEPT the Missouri Tigers in their conference series opener. While the baseball team showed signs of life in all 3 games in their series with Bama, we stranded way too many players on base in every game. Pitching was a roller coaster, to say the least, but they found their stride all-in-all. Let’s not jump on the panic ship just yet.
Remember, baseball got swept in the opening series last year and we ended up in Omaha! The Lady Vols Softball team looked poised from start to finish making a statement that their eyes are set on nothing less than Oklahoma City again this year. Karlyn Pickens and the rest of the bullpen continue to show that we have what it takes to have a special season when it comes to pitching and the bats stay HOT as well. During the weekend both basketball teams received their NCAA tournament bids with the Tennessee Men’s Basketball drawing a #2 seed playing the St. Peters Peacocks in the first round on Thursday in Charlotte, NC at 9:20 PM EST.
We will be in the Midwest Region along with Purdue pulling the #1 seed in the same region. The Lady Volunteers Basketball team drew the #6 seed in the Portland Region, and they will play the #11 Green Bay Phoenix. The Lady Vols are continuing the streak of being the only team in Women’s NCAA Tournament history to be the ONLY team that has made EVERY tournament. I guess battling South Carolina as hard as they did in the SEC Tournament pushed them to that #6 seed, and the committee knows Lady Vol fans travel well since they will start play in Raleigh, NC at noon EST on Saturday. We have a busy week ahead of us! So, be sure and stock up on snacks and caffeine so you can stay up late on Thursday to cheer on the men with their late start. And start finding some friends to meet up with so you can watch the Lady Vols play during lunch on Saturday! GO BIG ORANGE!
