No. 1 Tennessee (23-2, 5-1 SEC) defeated Queens (4-19, 2-4 ASUN), 14-3, Tuesday at Lindsey Nelson Stadium.
Queens led the Vols, 3-2, entering the bottom of the fourth inning. Tennessee scored six runs in the fifth inning, four runs in the sixth inning and two runs in the eighth inning, totaling 12 unanswered runs against the Royals. A run-rule was not in effect between Tennessee and Queens, in which a game may be stopped after seven innings if one team is ahead by at least 10 runs.
Eighth-year Tennessee head coach Tony Vitello discussed the run-rule after Tuesday’s contest.
“It’s frustrating for me, and the only thing I can do is come in here and cry to you guys about the seven-run rule,” Vitello said. “These guys were, you saw it, they got after it, they competed, and they wanted a full day’s work. That’s kind of what we wanted, and it allowed us to, obviously wish we had one more inning so we didn’t have to split an inning between guys, but we’ve lost over two games of repetitions. That’s like 18 innings of pitchers. You know, that’s Nic Abraham doubling his innings instead of just coming in and getting one out for us, and it’s affected the hitters as well.”
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Vitello also discussed if Tennessee will try and schedule opponents who do not want to have a run-rule in the future.
“Absolutely, and also, the other thing is, baseball is a big karma sport,” Vitello said. “You know, you call it baseball gods, if you want. I realized, like I said, Georgia beat the living hell out of us last year on a Friday, so it can happen either way, but yeah, it’s kind of gotten weird too.
“I think tonight it didn’t happen until the bottom of the eighth, but now, if you keep playing a game, kids start acting weird. I’ve noticed it. Kids on our team, and other teams, start acting weird. They don’t know what to do, and the fans don’t know if the game’s over or not. I don’t like it, and yeah, if you get me on the right day, I’ll tell you my ultimate theory that I think could put an end to it in a hurry.”
Tennessee has played in nine run-rule games in 2025.
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