BATON ROUGE, La. — LSU’s tying runner came to the plate with two-on and one-out in Tennessee baseball’s 6-3 loss at Alex Box Stadium in the wee hours of Saturday morning.
A dark grey cloud hung over everyone wearing smokey grey in the third base dugout and on the field. The game should have been over, but two Dean Curley ninth inning errors kept the Tigers alive long enough for Derek Curiel to tie the game with a single to right field and Jared Jones to send the home fans into pure jubilation with a 452-foot walk-off blast over the batter’s eye.
“We gave a couple free bases,” Tennessee head coach Tony Vitello said postgame. “Free bases in that inning is not a good idea.”
The two defensive miscues brought a struggling Tennessee team’s most glaring issue to a head— Dean Curley, the true freshman starting shortstop on last season’s national championship team, can’t throw the ball to first from the left side of the infield.
Neither ninth inning play was easy. Vitello wondered whether anyone on the field could have made the first play when Curley, starting at third base, fielded a chopper down the line and airmailed the throw to first. Two batters later he was unable to handle a late hop on what could have been a potential game ending double play ball.
But Curley twice shuffled his feet on the first throw and it still would have been in time if on line. Frankly put, Curley needed to make both plays.
It’s just the latest defensive miscue for Curley. He’s committed six errors, almost all throwing, in Tennessee’s last 12 games. He committed zero errors and played clean defense while at second base throughout last weekend’s Kentucky series. There’s been defensive mistakes past the listed errors including at Ole Miss when he patted a routine grounder to shortstop so long that the runner beat it out for an infield single.
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Earlier in the game, Curley went straight to second on a grounder to third with two outs. It was an easier play at first base, but it’s clear he doesn’t feel comfortable throwing it across the diamond right now.
“Just mental,” Vitello said of the prolonged miscues. “There’s always physical parts to it but just mental.”
Game one’s debacle brought the simmering tough decision to a head. How should Vitello handle Curley’s woes? Tennessee’s ceiling is undoubtedly highest when Curley is on the field playing to his defensive potential.
But can the Vols afford to let Curley work through his issues? Tennessee’s dropped six of its last 10 in SEC play and with a tough close to the regular season is fighting tooth and nail to hold on to a top eight national seed.
“Now we need to win,” Vitello said postgame. “I mean, we needed to win tonight, too, but we’re getting towards the stretch part of the season, obviously getting to May, so we just need to find a way to put nine guys out there that are going to help us win.”
Curley played well defensively at second base last weekend before Gavin Kilen returned to the field. Kilen started at shortstop last season at Louisville and worked there throughout the fall and preseason. If his hamstring injury isn’t limiting him, Kilen needs to play there opening up the possibility for Curley to slide back to second.
If Kilen’s still hamstrung, using Curley as the designated hitter seems most logical. With Tennessee racing to the postseason with a narrow margin for error, playing Curley on the left side of the infield is no longer feasible.
