Tony Vitello confident in Tennessee's ability to play tournament baseball with its experience

No. 1 Tennessee locked up the top seed in the 2024 SEC Baseball Tournament during the regular season finale over the weekend, and now awaits the winner of Vanderbilt vs. Florida on Wednesday.

Some of Tennessee’s standout players like Christian Moore, Blake Burke, Kavares Tears and Drew Beam were all a part of the 2022 team that won the conference tournament. They know what success in Hoover is supposed to look like, and are looking to ride their momentum of winning a share of the SEC East title with Kentucky during the regular season.

“I think so because of experience, seeing what it looks like, but then also knowing what it takes to navigate it,” Vitello said of his confidence in his team’s experience. “What can happen is a freshman can go out and have a phenomenal season. We’ve got some freshmen that are doing well for us. A lot of times what hurts a freshman is not the ability, they’re just so dang eager. ‘I want to, I want to, I want to.’ And I think there’s an interesting calm about the team when we get into all those 1-1 Sundays, or day three’s that we’ve had.

“There’s an interesting calm about them. Even the one we lost in Tuscaloosa, even though we’ve obviously gotten better from there, some guys have experienced either in junior college with other schools, or here, or even watching it on TV when they were a signee with us.”

While Tennessee’s bats have taken care of themselves this season, Vitello’s biggest concern preparation-wise heading into the tournament is finding a way to maintain balance with his pitching staff.

A quick turnaround from the regular season finale, Vitello said that it’s an “imperfect time of year,” for his pitchers in the sense that he wants them well-rested for when he needs them — but he needs his lineup to be flexible.

Expecting a deep run in the tournament this week and playing between four and eight games depending on how Tennessee’s luck in the double-elimination format goes, it might be hard for some of his bullpen to find their rhythm. Instead, Vitello needs his pitching staff ready whenever their name might be called. Instead of saving a certain pitcher for another appearance, Vitello would rather make the change on the mound instead of having his guys break personal records for the amount of pitches thrown.

Whether Tennessee faces the Commodores or Gators in the second round on Wednesday, Vitello is sure to have his group ready to go and prove why how they earned the top seed in this year’s tournament.