Drew Beam says he'll remember 'tough times' the most from this Tennessee team
LSU shut the book on Tennessee‘s postseason run on Tuesday night, shutting out the Volunteers 5-0 in an elimination game of the College World Series.
It may be over, but it was still a memorable season for the Volunteers, who battled through a ton of adversity throughout the year but was still able to reach new heights. And following their tough loss, sophomore pitcher Drew Beam was asked what he’ll remember most from this year’s team.
“The thing I’ll remember the most is probably the tough times we had, just the hills we had to climb,” Beam said. “I mean this season starts not just in February, it starts back in August when we got on campus in the fall, I mean it’s a grind.”
The highlight plays and the big wins are what fans may see, but they don’t always get to see the countless hours of blood, sweat, and tears a team puts in during the offseason in order to set themselves up for in-season success. These are the moments that not only build towards success, but make teams closer and their bond even stronger.
“You go through so much with your teammates and your coaches and you figure things out, then things don’t work, you figure out something else,” Beam explained. “I think just all those trials and tribulations that were thrown at us and that we had to fight though as the season went on, that’s just the things you remember because you just push through it with your brothers, the guys beside you, the coaches beside you.”
Tennessee faced trials early, starting off SEC play with a 5-10 record to start the season this year. They managed to rally, ending the season with a 16-14 record in conference play and a 44-22 overall record, now marking their fourth straight 40-plus win season excluding the shortened 2020 COVID year.
The team also gave head coach Tony Vitello his first College World Series win of his career, overcoming a four-run deficit while facing elimination for the second time in the postseason to defeat Stanford 6-4.
The win snapped a six-game losing streak in Omaha, marking their first College World Series win since 2001, but Beam made it clear that the winning isn’t everything.
“And that’s just the memorable parts, the winning’s great, but making a bond and making a family with the guys beside you is the part that you come out on top with,” Beam said.