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Tennessee

Tony Vitello updates injury status of Ariel Antigua, Dean Curley

FaceProfileby: Thomas Goldkamp02/15/24
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(Photo by Wesley Hitt/Getty Images)

College baseball season is right around the corner and Tennessee is gearing up for another campaign with high expectations under head coach Tony Vitello.

The Volunteers are only two years removed from a 57-win campaign that included a No. 1 national seed in the NCAA Tournament.

But if Tennessee wants to get back to that level, it’ll need everyone on board to step up. It’ll also need to stay healthy. There are a few minor injuries the team is dealing with heading into this weekend’s season opener.

“Ariel (Antigua)‘s coming along,” Tony Vitello said. “He’s able to use his lower half in any way shape or form that we want as coaches. But he did have the thumb issue, so we’ve got to be a little patient where he’s doing anything swinging a bat or fielding. He is able to play catch.”

The freshman infielder was highly touted out of Trinity Christian Academy in West Palm Beach, Fla. He was ranked as the No. 34 shortstop in the country by Perfect Game.

How soon he’ll be able to contribute remains to be seen.

Then there are a pair of other injuries that Tennessee is monitoring, including one to freshman infielder Dean Curley. Curley was another solid get as a recruit, checking in one spot ahead of Antigua in Perfect Game’s shortstop rankings, at No. 33.

“And then Dean, knowing Dean, as big and physical as he is and confident as a kid, he’s going to want to play Friday,” Tony Vitello said. “Whether he’d be in the lineup even if he wanted to, we haven’t even gotten that far. It’s been nice to see the competition we have.”

Dean and one other player’s status is up in the air for the opening weekend.

“I think Dean and Alex Perry both had lower half injuries that were minor and if push came to shove we could use both of them on Friday,” Tony Vitello said. “But it’s more of a conservative time of year as opposed to May, (when) we don’t to hear you turned your ankle or you’re not feeling well or you’ve got a cough or anything like that. But for now we’ll be a little more conservative.”

Tennessee begins the 2024 campaign on Friday when it takes on Texas Tech in an early season event in Arlington, Texas. The Volunteers will face Oklahoma on Saturday and Baylor on Sunday.