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For a brief moment during the opening game of the SEC tournament on Tuesday, it looked like Tennessee and Vanderbilt might get locked in a back-and-forth affair. The Commodores, needing wins to give them a shot at a national seed in the NCAA playoffs, took a 2-0 lead in the first inning. Tennessee followed that up with two runs in the second.
But then Vanderbilt scored a run in the bottom of the second to take a 3-2, and never looked back. They didn't really ever look forward, either. The scoring stopped there, and Vanderbilt coasted to a win. They will play LSU in another morning game Wednesday.
As for Tennessee, the loss could very well be the end of the their hopes to play in the NCAA tournament. After starting off on a a tear, the Vols only won three of their ten SEC series. Tennessee is now 8-12 over its last 20 games and their RPI is borderline for a would-be tournament team.
Dave Serrano finally got Tennessee back to Hoover after a seven-year absence, but it's also been nine years since the Vols played in a regional. In all likelihood, given the result Tuesday, it will be one year more.