Tennessee freshman Chase Burns knew for quite some time that he was going to get the ball on Opening Day.

The throwing program that he was on the last month or so had him on track to get the ball against Georgia Southern in the opener. When Friday finally rolled around, Burns shined.

“Nothing surprising,” Vols head coach Tony Vitello said after the win. “I just kind of checked on the vibe in the dugout before hand. Was he too early? Was he too late? Was he antsy? He was just kind of hanging out in the dugout with his teammates.

“He pitched how he has in scrimmages for us which is great. We’re certainly facing good competition as everyone saw tonight. But it’s not any different than anything we’ve been doing, so there’s no need to add anything extra to it. He’s already got good stuff going on.”

Burns has impressed since he stepped foot on campus. Enough to where Vitello trusted him to get the ball in his first ever game as a Vol.

Why? Because Burns doesn’t act like a freshman.

“He certainly acts like one when he’s off the field,” Vitello said. “He’s never not smiling and acts like he’s six years old actually. But like a lot of great players I’ve coached, there almost two different people in and out of uniform. When he’s on the field, he’s very serious about competing. It’s important for him to be great. He wants to be great.

“Reminiscent of Blade Tidwell last year, he has advanced stuff, but there’s a lot of guys across the country that don’t have advanced intangibles or character to go with that advanced stuff if they’re fortunate enough to have it. He’s got both things going on and it’s fun to watch."

Burns (W, 1-0) led Tennessee (1-0) to a 9-0 win over Georgia Southern at Lindsey Nelson Stadium. He pitched five scoreless innings and only allowed two hits on 70 pitches. The right-hander gave up just two walks and struck out five.

“I thought I did pretty good,” Burns said. “There’s things to work on after every outing, so I’m just hoping to keep building on that.”

Burns is the first UT freshman to throw five shutout innings in his first-career start since current senior RHP Camden Sewell did so against Middle Tennessee on Feb. 27, 2019 when he pitched six scoreless innings.

Safe to say Burns lived up to the hype in his Tennessee debut.

“Honestly that’s what I expected,” sophomore infielder Jorel Ortega said. “I’ve seen that dude pitch since the fall about a hundred times, and it’s not fun to face. I’ll tell you that right now. It’s not fun. Any count, he can throw whatever he wants, all the pitches he has. And he has that control, and he has some maturity as a freshman. Him being able to start as a freshman, Opening Day, that says it all, how good he is.

“That guy is great. A freshman up to 99? I mean, he’s a freak, honestly. He was on today. I don’t think you can ask for any stuff better than that.”

“We had a meeting after the game, and he just looked really collected, really calm and collected,” junior third baseman Trey Lipscomb added. “It was a big role for him, being a Friday guy, but he was poised out there.”

It was a big win for Tennessee to get Burns to campus over the summer. As one of the top high school arms in the country, the Beech High School product could have been drafted in the first or second round of the 2021 MLB Draft.

Instead, Burns turned down big dollars to come to school to play for Vitello and pitching coach Frank Anderson. Even after the San Diego Padres drafted him in the ninth round.

“I wanted to play in my home state,” Burns said. “I loved staying home in Tennessee, wearing that orange.”