Tony Vitello calls 10-run rule in college baseball stupid

Tennessee baseball coach Tony Vitello is not a fan of the 10-run rule in college baseball. He said it prevents comebacks and gets rid of the idea that no run is safe.

So you won’t catch Vitello championing shorter college baseball games. He brought up the topic when asked about the significance of Manny Martin’s seventh inning at-bat during Tennessee’s 3-2 win over Vanderbilt Friday night.

Martin drove in what would be the game-winning run, giving the Vols a 3-0 lead. How Vitello got on the 10-run rule bit is anyone’s guess. Maybe just to take a jab!

“It was the key to us having a little bit of a margin where you can do some things with the bullpen and take a breath – no lead is safe in this league,” Vitello said. “That’s another reason why the 10 run rule is stupid. As a matter of fact, I think there was an example of that this year. But anyhow, you could see the calm with two strikes, whereas he was much more eager on the pitch before. And he’s done that before. I don’t know that that comes from maturity, it just comes from competitiveness. 

“He’s been special on game ones. You can call them Fridays, but sometimes we play on Thursday. He is ready to rock and roll, and because we have a deep team, he doesn’t always play on Tuesday. Maybe it’s because he’s chomping at the bit by the time game one rolls around, maybe he likes the bright lights, I don’t know. That at-bat was great, but it’s also, there’s been indications of that in the past, too.”

Well since we’re not talking about a 10-run rule game, Vitello was asked about the significance of the crowd in a low-scoring game. Simply put, you gotta love the home fans.

“It’s a one-run game, and we’re playing at home, and there’s been some weird games where just because of the rain, or basketball, or weird start times, maybe you could argue we didn’t have a lightning bolt of energy to put us over the edge,” Vitello said. “Or maybe our players didn’t provide the energy for them to do that. But in a game like this, you can’t write it down. I think the Seahawks say something (12th Man).

“Another program (Texas A&M) is trying to say this number, add a number to the guys you have out there, but it helped us win a game. Period. And who’s to say a guy makes a base running mistake because it’s so loud and the crowds going crazy. I mean, I know Hunter made a great catch, and Dean gets credit for spotting that deal, but it was an influence, for sure.”