The Official Texas A&M @ #1 Tennessee National Championship Game 1 Thread (Sat. June 22 7:30 EST) (ESPN)

[vol66]

I think what I just said combined with what tony said here is a big part of why college baseball is exploding in popularity and MLB is falling off the map in national popularity.

Regionally, MLB will always be king in its markets. But ESPN+ changed the game nationally. You can watch any D1 game in the country for $10 a month. You need 7 subscription services or MLBTV for $150+ a year to watch the majors.

Yeah, that summed it up fairly.

 

[vol66]

The draft is gonna be a little more interesting this year I think.

 

[VolsRule]

This game was a fluke - UT will win the next two and being home the hardware

 

[Big Al Orange]

This game was a fluke - UT will win the next two and being home the hardware

Dang straight !! And on that note I’m going to bed. See y’all tomorrow.

 

[vol94]

Vegas doesn’t lie. Usually.

They know the numbers and I think it’s more respect on Tennessee than it is disrespect on the Aggies.

@ Volstexx, what’s your take on tonight’s game and game two predictions?

 

[vol_smoothie]

That was brutal. I know that our pitching is statistically supposed to rank in the top 5 nationally, however they put those numbers together, but what I have seen all season is feast or famine and a lot of shaky outings from our staff. I feel for the kid, but why are we starting a pitcher who has not made it out of the 1st inning in 2 of his last 3 starts for the most important game of the season to date ? The same can be said for our infield defense - inconsistent all year and prone to some very destructive errors. Often our hitting has overcome pitching or fielding issues, but today, some of our most consistent guys really struggled against A&M pitching. I would absolutely hate to see Tony and our guys get this far and lose to a very good but still inferior team for the national title.

 

[Christian Lowe]

Constantine Ritzman, Yves Pons, Santiago Vescovi, Igor Milcic just off the top of my head. Plenty of Vols have been "foreigners". Smh

I didn’t say no foreign born players. I said I don’t like teams being made up of 90% foreign born players. Thanks though.

 

[KnoxtotheBoro20]

Man social media is already talking about us being choke jobs. Can we please win these next 2 and smash that narrative?

 

[GameTime]

That was a tough loss for us fans...Like many, I'm not sure what Tony is trying to accomplish with Stamos starting...The guy has been hit hard his last few outings...

In any event, hope our guys can rebound from this loss and win the championship....Keep swinging guys.

 

[Vol4lif3]

Man social media is already talking about us being choke jobs. Can we please win these next 2 and smash that narrative?

I had to hear about lsu fans saying Tennessee isn’t even a good sec school saying we haven’t won a championship in years and they have won 53 national championships and then I had to hear a damn Texas fan of all teams say they are the real ut if I was Tennessee players I’d play pissed off and don’t let up cause this is ridiculous we have been close to a bunch of championships we just haven’t closed it off

 

[JCP201]

Tony playing off their ace was a MLB strategy that paid off in several playoff series though out my time watching. You never try to lose.. but selling out to win one game only to put yourself in a bad position to win the bigger picture is stupid.

I think A&M did just that, at least somewhat

What happened with FSU doesn't happen often, and we were behind more than that. Although Phillips and Loy pitched very well-- they haven't exactly been our go-to relief in the biggest games. In the end, we got to their closer. Also, with some hits, plus Burke and others fouling off many pitches, we did get his pitch count up more than they would like.

So yes, Tony played chess, IMO, and now it depends on Beam and all our big bats to come through.

 

[JCP201]

I had to hear about lsu fans saying Tennessee isn’t even a good sec school saying we haven’t won a championship in years and they have won 53 national championships and then I had to hear a damn Texas fan of all teams say they are the real ut if I was Tennessee players I’d play pissed off and don’t let up cause this is ridiculous we have been close to a bunch of championships we just haven’t closed it off

Are Texas or LSU in the world series final? The end.

 

[ftsandersvol]

Just an ugly game last night. You’re not going to win many games where you give up 3 errors, have 17 strike outs, and go 2-13 with runners in scoring position.

Team just has to shrug it off knowing it’s win or go home today.

 

[orangemadam]

TA&M has an excellent pitching staff. They are #3 in the country for a reason. They are not
a shabby team as many on here are suggesting.

Pitching Stamos was a blunder that set the wheels in motion for a loss, every out
is critical when the 2 best teams in the country are fighting it out.

Better hope the bats come alive today, can't have our top two hitters going 0fer again.

 

[Zues1]

It's a three game series

 

[Zues1]

Tony playing off their ace was a MLB strategy that paid off in several playoff series though out my time watching. You never try to lose.. but selling out to win one game only to put yourself in a bad position to win the bigger picture is stupid.

I think A&M did just that, at least somewhat

Agreed, Tony is playing the long game. I expect our guys to be lazer focused on Sunday and take the win.

 

[theroyz71]

12 hits TN

13 hits AM.

Errors errors errors. And untimely strikeouts.

Ding ding ding.

 

[theroyz71]

Moore, Amick, Tears gave us nothing

Amick was 1-3 with 2 BB and 2K. He also had an error which allowed 1 or 2 runs to score. CM and KT were both ofer.

 

[theroyz71]

Must not be the same play, the one I'm talking about I think was in the 3rd inning a ball was hit into right field in front of him and he just tossed it back to 2cnd base with a runner going home.

Yes, he had a chance to throw the runner out at home but went to 2nd instead. I was referring to his error.

 

[volfan102455]

Not the outcome desired - one really bad inning and too many runners left on base.

Still extremely proud of this team and what they have accomplished. Today is a new day! Go Vols! Win this one and Monday is a 0 to 0 game!

 

[knoxvol52]

Chapman was DH most of the season cut the guy some slack. He may have had a mental error but he is s giving his all for Tennessee.

The bigger error was made by Amick who threw the ball 25 feet down the first base line which led to 2 more unearned runs.

 

[Mikevol1964]

Come on man - it was funny. And I’m not a troll. Just a fan. A frustrated one when we play like crap in a huge game. I really think we play better tomorrow.

 

[Clad in Big Orange]

Man social media is already talking about us being choke jobs. Can we please win these next 2 and smash that narrative?

stay off social media

 

[Volfan574]

We lost our first game in the Sec tournament and It turned out fine. Lost to Evansville the 2nd game and then destroyed them in the 3rd one. I think we will be ok today.

 

[TartanTurff]

You wonder, on defense if there is an adjustment going from a season on plastic grass and plastic dirt to tournament season on real dirt and the real grass, with bad hops, unpredictable bounces and a slower arrival to the fielder given the slower surfaces than the plastic stuff planted in lots of the SEC baseball venues.