Tennessee

Seldom has Vanderbilt baseball looked as much an underdog as it does vs Tennessee | Estes

Published

1 year ago

May 11, 2024

Seldom has Vanderbilt baseball looked as much an underdog as it does vs Tennessee | Estes

No one is going to feel sorry for Vanderbilt baseball, especially those dudes across the state in orange.

The fact that Tennessee entered this weekend’s series at Hawkins Field ranked No. 1 in the nation isn’t some outlier in our state’s best college sports rivalry. It was the continuation of a shift that dates back a few years now.

So, too, was the Vols’ 8-4 victory over the unranked Commodores in Friday’s Game 1, which made it eight in a row in the series. With a monstrous offense and overachieving pitching staff that keeps piecing together outs and wins, Tony Vitello’s Tennessee (41-9, 18-7 SEC) is barreling toward a return to the College World Series, likely hosting the NCAA regionals and super regionals along the way.

In the coming weeks, there will be plenty more to say about these Vols.

As for the rest of this weekend, that looms far more important for Vanderbilt (33-17, 11-14).

It’ll have two more opportunities to break the in-state jinx and start turning a sinking season before it’s too late. Not impossible.

But seldom have Tim Corbin’s Vandy Boys looked as much an underdog as they do right now.

All is not well on that side of the diamond. Vanderbilt’s sub-standard hitting is now paired with an underachieving pitching staff that’s banged-up, hurting for confidence and increasingly unreliable in critical situations.

Friday’s loss — during which the Commodores’ bullpen blew a 4-3 eighth-inning lead — wasn’t just another deflating setback to their in-state rival. It was their sixth SEC loss in a row, period. During that stretch, they have been outscored 58-26.

Hopes to host an NCAA regional are all but gone. You’d think an NCAA bid remains assured. But look at Vanderbilt’s five remaining regular-season games: Two more this weekend against Tennessee, followed by a three-game series at No. 5 Kentucky.

Something needs to go right for Vanderbilt. Quickly.

And that’s why Friday night’s blown lead felt especially cruel. Because the Commodores and their home fans had started to sense a turning point was at hand. Starting pitcher Bryce Cunningham gave them that belief, striking out 10 and allowing only three runs in 6⅔ innings.

“He attacked, obviously, a good offensive team,” Corbin said of Cunningham. “I thought he did what he needed to do to put us in a good position to win.”

Down to their final six outs, the Vols just grabbed their bats and swatted aside the Commodores like a minor annoyance. A five-run eighth inning featured home runs by Kavares Tears and Cannon Peebles. Vanderbilt’s freshman relief pitchers Miller Green and Brennan Seiber combined to allow five hits and five runs in 2⅓ innings.

That Corbin, facing the nation’s most powerful offense, chose to hand a one-run lead to a freshman in Green suggested a lack of faith in the rest of his (healthy) pitching staff.

“I mean, we’ve got what we’ve got, OK,” Corbin said when asked afterward about his bullpen’s struggles, “unless Jesus comes into the picture.”

It wasn’t just the pitching. The 3-4-5 hitters in Vanderbilt’s lineup were a collective 0-for-11, with five strikeouts. Tennessee’s A.J. Causey, who slipped to allow three runs in the sixth inning that put Vanderbilt ahead 4-3, was able to stay in the game. He threw the final 6⅓ innings, thus saving Vols arms for the remainder of the series.

After losing the starting role on Friday nights, Causey has been effective out of the bullpen for Tennessee, which has gotten by without injured pitcher A.J. Russell, who was expected to star atop the Vols’ rotation this season.

Entering this weekend, they haven’t lost an SEC series since the first one in March.

They are a legit powerhouse and national title contender.

If this Vanderbilt team wants to have a chance to be viewed that way again this season, it’ll need to figure out a way to finally beat them before the losing streak grows.

Reach Tennessean sports columnist Gentry Estes at gestes@tennessean.com and on the X platform (formerly known as Twitter) @Gentry_Estes.

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Tennessee

Former Michigan Miss Basketball winner kicked off Tennessee team

Published

4 hours ago

November 2, 2025

Press Room

Former Michigan Miss Basketball winner kicked off Tennessee team

Associated Press
| The Detroit News

Knoxville, Tenn. – Tennessee coach Kim Caldwell announced Sunday that she has dismissed senior guard Ruby Whitehorn from the eighth-ranked Lady Vols, saying it was her responsibility to protect the program’s high standards.

Whitehorn played for Detroit Edison and won the Michigan Miss Basketball award in 2022.

“In light of recent events, Ruby has been unable to reflect those standards, and I have made the difficult decision to dismiss her from our team,” Caldwell said in a statement. “I love Ruby and will always be rooting for her, but my priority is to uphold the respected reputation of the Lady Vols.”

Whitehorn had been allowed back on the team following a suspension for an August arrest. She pleaded guilty Sept. 5 to two misdemeanors of aggravated trespassing and aggravated burglary in exchange for judicial diversion after the Aug. 8 altercation. Her record can be expunged after a year.

The 6-foot player was arrested after what police said was an incident at a woman’s residence where Whitehorn kicked in a front door and bedroom door. Whitehorn reportedly told officers she was getting her property back after the woman took her phone and passport and then locked the door.

Whitehorn then reportedly was stopped early on Oct. 30 by campus police who found her in possession of marijuana. She was charged with misdemeanor simple possession/casual exchange.

The Lady Vols open the season Tuesday night at No. 9 N.C. State.

Whitehorn started 28 of 34 games last season for the Lady Vols and ranked fourth on the team in scoring, averaging 11.6 points. She began her career at Clemson, where she started 62 of 66 games.

She helped Tennessee go 24-10 in coach Caldwell’s debut season. The Lady Vols lost to Texas in the Sweet 16 of the women’s NCAA Tournament.

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Tennessee

5 Tennessee football takeaways from loss to Oklahoma to fall out of playoff race

Published

22 hours ago

November 2, 2025

Press Room

5 Tennessee football takeaways from loss to Oklahoma to fall out of playoff race

Tennessee football committed a season-high three turnovers to suffer a 33-27 loss to Oklahoma on Nov. 1 and drop out of the College Football Playoff race.

The 14th-ranked Vols (6-3, 3-3 SEC) squandered early scoring chances and gave No. 18 Oklahoma (7-2, 3-2) ample opportunities to steal the game.

UT quarterback Joey Aguilar tossed two interceptions, and his fumble was returned for a touchdown. Meanwhile, Oklahoma kicker Tate Sandell made all four field goal attempts from 40 yards, 51 yards and twice from 55 yards.

The loss especially stung for UT coach Josh Heupel, who led Oklahoma to the 2000 national title as a Heisman Trophy runner-up quarterback. His team’s third loss of the season puts a second straight playoff bid out of reach.

Tennessee heads into an off week before hosting New Mexico State on Nov. 15 (4:15 p.m., SEC Network) at Neyland Stadium. Before turning toward that break, here are five takeaways from this loss to Oklahoma.

Tennessee never recovered from mistake-filled first half

Tennessee outgained Oklahoma 255 yards to 99 yards in the first half. And it had 17 first downs to Oklahoma’s five first downs. Yet, the Vols trailed 16-10 on the scoreboard at halftime.

Several unforced errors by UT led to that discrepancy, including two interceptions, a missed field goal and a fumble returned by Oklahoma for a touchdown.

In a game that felt like UT led by multiple scores, it instead trailed at halftime.

Oklahoma’s record-long fumble return started the mistakes

On a strange play, Oklahoma tied the game 7-7 on defensive end R Mason Thomas’ 71-yard fumble return for a TD. Linebacker Owen Heinecke came on a free rush off the edge. It appeared that freshman right tackle David Sanders was unsure of his assignment, and he whiffed trying to block Heinecke.

Heinecke hit Aguilar and forced the fumble, which Thomas scooped. Tight end Miles Kitselman failed to tackle Thomas, who suffered an injury and limped down the sideline for the TD. It was the longest fumble return in Oklahoma history.

In the second quarter, Aguilar tossed two interceptions. Both were returned 37 yards and set up Oklahoma field goals.

Josh Heupel has losing record vs. Top 25 opponents

Heupel’s record dropped to 11-12 against ranked opponents at Tennessee, including a 4-5 mark at home. Against Top 25 teams, he is 3-0 at neutral site games and 4-7 on the road.

The Vols fell out of playoff contention because they lost to all three ranked opponents they faced this season: Georgia, Alabama and Oklahoma.

Joey Aguilar committed three costly turnovers

Aguilar was 29-of-45 passing for 393 yards, three TDs and two interceptions in an up-and-down performance, and he lost a fumble that was returned for a touchdown.

Nevertheless, Aguilar hit some notable benchmarks in his career and UT history.

Aguilar became the fifth UT quarterback to record at least four 300-yard passing games in a season. He joined Peyton Manning, Tyler Bray, Hendon Hooker and Andy Kelly. Manning holds the school record with 10 300-yard passing games in the 1997 season, when he was the Heisman Trophy runner-up.

Aguilar also moved into 11th place on UT’s single-season list for TD passes with his 21st. Manning holds the school record with 36 TD passes in 1997.

And Aguilar has passed for at least 200 yards in all 33 starts of his Division I career, including nine at UT and 24 at Appalachian State. That’s the longest active streak in FBS.

Neyland Stadium crowd witnessed rare home loss

It was Tennessee’s first home loss to a team other than Georgia in the past four seasons.

In that way, Heupel’s teams seemed almost invincible at Neyland Stadium. But a sellout crowd witnessed this frustrating rare loss.

Heupel fell to 28-6 at Neyland Stadium during his tenure, which began in 2021. He’s had only three losses in the past 28 home games, losing to Georgia in 2023 and 2025 and to Oklahoma in this one.

Adam Sparks is the Tennessee football beat reporter. Email adam.sparks@knoxnews.com. X, formerly known as Twitter@AdamSparks. Support strong local journalism by subscribing at knoxnews.com/subscribe.

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