Tennessee infielder Dean Curley and starting pitcher Marcus Phillips were oft criticized during the Vols’ struggled in the back half of SEC play. Curley constantly struggled defensively while still posting solid but not as strong as expected offensive numbers. Phillips mostly pitched well but opposing teams tormented on the base paths.
Both Curley and Phillips minimized their shortcomings and delivered for Tennessee baseball in its 10-6 win over Cincinnati Saturday night to advance to the Knoxville Regional final.
Curley got Tennessee going from the jump, driving in the game’s first runs with a two-RBI single to right field in the first inning. It was the first of three plate appearances where Curley drove in runs against Cincinnati including a third inning solo homer.
The sophomore second baseman didn’t make any defensive miscues, but consistency is the only thing that can vanquish questions there. However, Curley finding more pop in his bat and offensive production is a welcome sign for an offense finding its groove at the right time.
Tennessee head coach Tony Vitello sees Curley freeing himself up to play. It’s hard to argue with the early NCAA Tournament results. Through two games, Curley has reached base safely five times and has driven in five runs.
“I think at this point, it gets real tiring to listen to complaints or critique or for a kid to stress himself out,” Vitello said of Curley. “And again, want to be perfect, or want to do this or that, and eventually we’ve all been mad before. It’s exhausting. I can hold a grudge as well as anybody in the room, as can a lot of other Italians. It’ll wear you out. So eventually you just say, I’m still mad, but I can’t do this anymore. I’m over with it. … I just want to play, man.”
Phillips’ issues have been more specific but also more complicated. Kentucky stole eight bases against him and Ole Miss swiped seven bags on him. How could Phillips limit the issue while not messing up his mechanics and the other things that were making him an effective pitcher?
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“The learning process is every day, you can learn something new,” Phillips said. “Whether it’s on the mound or in catch play or through bullpen, which is what helped me a lot, just working on a quicker step to home plate and honestly, just progressing week by week.”
Neither Arkansas nor Alabama stole a base on Phillips in his last two outings but neither team is aggressive on the base paths. Cincinnati entered the weekend ranked 14th nationally in stolen bases. The Bearcats stole just one base on Phillips, and the junior successfully picked off Kerrington Cross, inciting one of the loudest roars at Lindsey Nelson Stadium this season.
“There’s been significant progress,” Vitello said.
“He has gotten a lot quicker to the plate,” Cincinnati head coach Jordan Bischel said. “When it takes less time to deliver the baseball, we have less time to steal the base. … He sequenced his pickoffs well and put a lot of time into it. Credit to him”
With Cincinnati unable to run wild, its offense had few answers for Phillips. The 6-foot-5 right-hander matched his career-high with eight strikeouts while allowing three runs in six innings pitched. By the time Phillips exited, with Tennessee leading by six runs, Curley had already driven in more runs than Phillips had allowed.
Phillips has addressed the issue that plagued him while remaining effective while Curley keeps becoming more-and-more productive at the plate. Both were significant in the Vols’ win over Cincinnati and makes a deeper postseason run more plausible.
