KNOXVILLE — Alabama State head coach Jose' Vazquez spends his time away from the field still around the game of baseball.

Vazquez watches a lot of professional baseball when he's not coaching his own team and what he saw on the mound in Knoxville on Friday night was as if he was still watching on television.

“If (Blade Tidwell is) not a first rounder, I don’t know what it would take to be a first rounder," Vazquez told the media after Tidwell led Tennessee to a 10-0 win over Alabama State in its NCAA Tournament opener.

"You’re talking about a guy who throws 95 to 98 miles per hour and has a three-pitch mix," Vazquez said. "There are some guys in the big leagues who aren’t as good as what he was today. I was very impressed. Obviously, the fastball has a lot to do with it, but the ability to throw the changeup and the breaking ball for a strike is really what made him so effective tonight.”

Tidwell turned in his best outing of the season against the Hornets at the best possible time as the Vols started on their road to Omaha.

The right-hander threw a career-high 7.2 innings, didn't walk a single hitter and struck out seven. 64 of Tidwell's 93 pitches were strikes as he didn't allow a run on three hits.

Tidwell's performance came against an Alabama State offense that finish third in the SWAC in runs scored (441), third in hits (571), second in home runs (52) and with the third-highest slugging percentage (.436).

"I think it speaks volumes to how Blade (Tidwell) threw the ball," Vols skipper Tony Vitello said. "If you know their lineup well, I think the results kind of applaud it as well."

Tidwell's performance is a welcomed sight to those in the program. The sophomore hasn't had a poor season, but it hasn't been the season everyone expected coming into the year because of the shoulder injury that forced him to miss the first half of the season.

Since returning at the end of March, Tidwell has had to work to get back in the flow of things throughout SEC competition. That's no small task for any pitcher, even for one who is as talented as Tidwell.

"He has returned to the Blade Tidwell that everyone wants to see," Vitello said. "I think you have a more mature guy. That doesn’t guarantee you that he’s going do what he did today with three hits over 7.2 innings. The stats are great, but baseball coaches or fans can see with their own eyes that the guy has matured."

Tidwell agreed with his head coach that he was back to looking like his old self.

“I would say I’ve returned to form," Tidwell said. "I’ve been feeling like that, I know the results haven’t been what I wanted, but I’ve always had that confidence this year in my stuff and it’s nice to see it play out on the field.”

Tennessee will be back in action on Saturday night against Campbell. First pitch is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET. The winner will advance to the regional finals and await the team that comes out of the loser's bracket.

Sophomore right-hander Chase Dollander is expected to start on the mound for the Vols.