The scene before Tennessee’s home opener was hardly picturesque for a baseball game.
But after inclement weather canceled the five previous home openers, Tennessee was determined to overcome Mother Nature to play its first home game.
So when rain began to drizzle at Lindsey Nelson stadium, the Vols placed a tarp over the diamond to shield the turf from further rainwater.
And while the Vols’ efforts to keep the field dry helped start their contest with the MTSU Blue Raiders on time, they once again fell victim to Mother Nature’s powers.
The drizzle turned into a steady downpour midway through the third inning, resulting in a one hour and 14 minute rain delay and a second appearance from the tarp.
When the umpires inspected the field conditions after the rain delay, the decided to cancel the game due to safety reasons.
“With the weather forecast of continued drizzle and rain, with all the wetness that was already on the field, and how much water was on the warning tracks and the outfield, they decided, for the safety of the players, it was best to cancel this game,” Coach Dave Serrano said.
“I don’t disagree with them, we want to play tremendously bad. But my biggest fear is that we get back on that field and one of our players hurts himself, I would have to live with myself.”
Serrano has never encountered such an unfortunate stretch of weather before in his coaching career. He has now witnessed seven different scheduled home baseball games for Tennessee canceled on account of weather conditions.
Even for his team’s trip to picture-perfect Southern California, Serrano was forced to rearrange the schedule for his team’s series against UC Irvine, scheduling a double-header on Friday due to forecasted rain on Saturday.
“That dark cloud just follows us over and over,” Serrano said.
However, considering how the game transpired in two-and-a-half innings of play, Tennessee might be thankful for Mother Nature canceling the remainder the game.
The Blue Raiders jumped out to a 4-0 advantage in the early stages of the game, taking advantage of two errors in the same play and a 2-run homer from Delgado Dustin in the second inning.
Yet, Serrano was still pleased with freshman lefthander Zach Warren’s first career performance on the mound.
“We gave up four runs, but boy, he looked pretty sharp,” Serrano said. “I mean his stuff was pretty good, they put some good passes on some pitches when he was elevated. But he didn’t go out there and pitch like a freshman.
“It was good to see him go out there, He has had to wait a long time because of the weather.”
While he finally got the opportunity to start on the mound, he and his team will continue to have to wait to play a complete home game.
Tennessee’s next opportunity to play a home game comes Wednesday against Morehead State, but even the chances of finishing that game look slim due to impending showers.
“The weather is affecting me as a coach more than maybe our team,” Serrano said. “It starts to get depressing a little bit because you want to play, you want the weather to be nice, and that hasn’t happened for us.
“Your concern is that a lot of teams in the SEC have got a lot of games under their belt, and we are still scratching to get into double digits with our games. That is concerning.”
Serrano admitted that the only solution to deal with Mother Nature is to maintain an optimistic mindset.
“I am hoping that the sunshine is around the corner for us,” Serrano said.
