Strange: Who does AD call from bullpen for Tennessee baseball? – Knoxville News Sentinel

 Merchandise was marked down 30 percent  Saturday at Lindsey Nelson Stadium, a sure sign Tennessee’s baseball season was ending.

A crowd scattered around the grandstand could hear an occasional cheer from down the railroad tracks at the NCAA softball regional that is an annual campus event.

UT baseball’s 12th consecutive season with no NCAA implications sputtered out with an uneventful 8-2 loss to Missouri.

Athletic director John Currie has figuratively trekked to the mound and taken the ball from coach Dave Serrano. Now Tennessee baseball waits to see who Currie calls in from the bullpen to revive an underachieving program.

►RELATED: Serrano, Moberg exiting UT together

“We have a wonderful opportunity for the right coach to build on the foundation,” Currie said Friday. “Coach Serrano did some good things, repairing our APR problem and all that kind of stuff.

“It’s not easy, but I’m very optimistic and very confident we’ll have a great coach to introduce before too long.”

No, baseball at Tennessee is not easy.

In eight decades of SEC baseball, Tennessee ranks 11th in the all-time standings with a .456 winning percentage.

►RELATED: Resignation sad, but ‘feels right’ for Serrano

Only Kentucky (8) has made fewer NCAA tournaments than Tennessee (9). Since the Vols last made the College World Series in 2005, eight other SEC schools have appeared in Omaha a combined 24 times. Three SEC schools have combined to win four of the past eight national titles.

One of them is in Nashville. Kentucky, three hours north, was competing for the league’s best record on the final day of the regular season. The SEC landscape has changed and Tennessee hasn’t kept pace.

Here’e another stat — Tennessee ranks 13th in SEC attendance in 2017 at 1,711 per game, ahead of only Missouri. Seven league schools average more than 4,000 per game. UT is missing the party.

But Tennessee has produced some exciting baseball, you protest. You’re right. Rod Delmonico won nearly 64 percent of his games from 1990-2007. That included three trips to Omaha (1995, 2001, 2005), weighed against a number of mediocre campaigns.

Since Delmonico was fired in 2007,  Todd Raleigh’s four years and Serrano’s six have been mired in mediocre without the periodic Delmonico peaks.

“There are going to be peaks and valleys in every program,” Currie said, “because the cycle spins … One of our challenges and opportunities is to build the foundation of our program to where the peaks are higher but our valleys are higher, too.”

Now, the wait to see who will be handed the ball. Currie said he’s no fan of prolonged searches. And attention Chris Burke fans, lack of head coaching experience isn’t a deal-killer. Currie just promoted associate head coach Chris Woodruff to take over men’s tennis.

“There are plenty of examples in our conference of assistant coaches who stepped into the head coaching position and have done very well,” Currie said.

Currie, wisely, is big on fit: “You learn over time that some people may be excellent but they may not fit one place as well as they fit another place.”

Saturday, Tennessee’s first batter, Jeff Moberg, slugged a home run. It was all downhill from there. By the seventh-inning stretch, drama had left the building. That’s too often the scene. Again, Tennessee is missing the party that is SEC baseball.

“There are a lot of things to do in Knoxville, Tennessee,” Currie said. “One of the ways you engage besides providing a first-class fan experience is you compete and win.”

That’s the challenge for the next guy. It won’t be easy.

Mike Strange may be reached at mike.strange@knoxnews.com. Follow him on Twitter at Strangemike44.