Tennessee’s dreams of winning a second national title in 3 years went up in smoke on Saturday afternoon in a frustrating 5-4 loss to VCU at the Chapel Hill Regional.
One day after an equally agonizing 7-3 loss in 14 innings to East Carolina, the Volunteers faced elimination in trying to avoid being bounced from the NCAA Tournament without even winning 1 game. They couldn’t do that, and so the first season of the Josh Elander era ended much quicker than Tennessee ever wanted it to, with Elander taking over this season for legendary head coach Tony Vitello.
Vitello is managing the San Francisco Giants right now, but many miles from the West Coast his former program was on the ropes in the state of North Carolina. The second-seeded Vols, whose season ended at 38-22, were so close to flipping the narrative on Saturday and surviving to play at least 1 more game in Chapel Hill.
But after grabbing a 2-0 lead in the third inning against the Rams (38-24) on a two-run home run to left field by Reese Chapman, things quickly unraveled for the Volunteers. Fourth-seeded VCU answered with a run in the bottom of the third, then erupted for two runs each in the fourth and fifth frames.
A big turning point came in the Rams’ fifth inning, with Tennessee already trailing 3-2. Vols reliever Brady Frederick was 1 strike away from escaping a bases-loaded jam and at least keeping Tennessee’s deficit 1 run. But Nate Kirkpatrick instead gave VCU a 5-2 cushion with a two-run double to left field. It turned out to be the game-winning hit after the Volunteers chipped away with 1 run each in the sixth and the eighth.
The Rams will next face the loser of Saturday’s game between regional host and top seed North Carolina and No. 3 seed East Carolina in yet another elimination game on Sunday. Tennessee only wishes it had another game to play in Chapel Hill.
After struggling with runners in scoring position in Friday’s wild loss to East Carolina, those same troubles carried over to Saturday against VCU, with the Volunteers going 0 for 7.
Tennessee couldn’t muster a whole lot against Rams starter Elias Holbert, who fanned 10 Vols on Saturday. Volunteers starter and staff ace Tegan Kuhns couldn’t match Holbert after starting the game with 2 shutout innings. Kuhns ran into trouble in the third and fourth frames, and he was out of the game by the fifth inning.
Stone Lawless almost single-handedly brought Tennessee back from the 5-2 deficit, belting a solo homer to left in the sixth and then bringing home another run on a sacrifice fly in the eighth that pulled the Vols within 5-4.
Tennessee had a chance to tie the game in the eighth. But with the tying run on third base and 2 outs, Jay Abernathy grounded out, keeping the score 5-4.
Once again in the ninth, the Vols had their fans gasping for air, with the tying run on first after a 1-out walk. But Trent Grindlinger flew out to right to end the game and Tennessee’s 2026 season.
Tennessee’s national title dreams are done but the action still continues at the Chapel Hill Regional this weekend. Here is what the Kalshi market is currently saying about the odds for the remaining teams to win the regional and advance to the super regionals next week:
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
