Vanderbilt head Coach Tim Corbin knew Tennessee was a team destined for Omaha back in mid-April when the two teams met in Knoxville.
Fast forward two months and not only is Corbin’s Commodores in Omaha, so is Tony Vitello’s Vols.
“The fact that Coach Corbin had that to say about our club means a lot,” Vitello told the media this week. “He and a few of the other coaches have been here multiple, multiple times, and they know what it looks like.
“(That series) was something that prepared us for things deeper down the road, and it certainly in a roundabout way improved our team.”
Tennessee is back in Omaha for the first time in 16 years. It’ll begin its 2021 College World Series run on Sunday against Virginia at 2 p.m. ET.
It’ll be quite a change in scenery for Vitello’s crew. Not because they’re 13 hours away from home. But because the “Ibiza” of college baseball — T.D. Ameritrade — as Vitello put it, is vastly different from their friendly confines of Lindsey Nelson Stadium.
“It does play bigger here,” Vitello explained. “There’s a lot more foul ground. That's one thing that I think plays into it a little bit. If you catch it on the right day, it could play a little more offensive, but overall it's gonna favor the pitchers.
“I think our park is like a lot of parks throughout the country. Based on wether, it could go one way or the other.”
It's just 320 feet down both foul lines at Lindsey Nelson Stadium, and it only extends to 360 in left-center, and 350 in right-center, respectively. Dead center is only 390 feet away from home plate.
At T.D. Ameritrade, it's 335 down both lines, 375 to both left-center and right-center, and a lofty 408 to dead center. To make the stadium play even bigger, the wind that comes off of the nearby Missouri River can be quite hectic.
“I think (at T.D. Ameritrade), it's a little bit more balanced, as opposed to back and forth,” Vitello said. “I really think if there's any advantage with this ballpark, it's that Hoover [home of the SEC Tournament] is kind of a modified version of this. It's a huge, neutral crowd. It's media attention. It’s police escorts. It’s heavy competition. It's more foul ground. It’s a park that plays bigger.
“Since they moved the fences in (at T.D. Ameritrade), it's not quite as big. And then, again, there are those blips on the radar screen where it can turn offensive a little bit. So it might be one reason why some SEC teams in the past have had success. I think there's a lot of things (in Hoover), including the way the park plays, that make it a little bit of a precursor or an advantage going into (Omaha).”
Tennessee has hit 98 home runs to this point in the season, second-most in the SEC, only trailing Arkansas. Its .477 slugging percentage ranks fourth in the conference.
The Vols have five players who have hit at least double-digit homers, and eight players who have hit at least five home runs.
But there's one stat that signifies that even if home runs naturally dip because they'll be playing in a bigger stadium, the Vols will still be able to produce runs. They've hit 133 doubles this season. It's the most in the SEC and signals that Tennessee will take advantage of the big gaps in Omaha.
“It is a big ballpark,” Tennessee starting left fielder Evan Russell told the media on Friday. “We just got done practicing on it. We saw the gaps were -- there's some big gaps. The outfielders will have a lot to cover. But the bigger the ballpark, the more fans we get in the stadium.
“I think we can beat you in a lot of ways. I think our lineup is pretty balanced. I think we have a lot of speed especially at the top of our lineup. I don't think anyone in our dugout is worried about the size of the ballpark, because I think we have some pretty physical guys.”
It feels as if Tennessee has primarily won games over the second-half of the season courtesy of the long run ball. Chicks may dig the long ball, but these Vols aren’t the New York Yankees — they can win games multiple ways.
UT is second in the SEC in walks (330), second in hit by pitches (79), third in sacrifice bunts (22), fifth in sac flies (27) and third in stolen bases (72).
Simply put: the Vols can win in a variety of ways.
“We've had games where we win ugly because we just pitch and play defense,” Vitello said. “We have very balanced stolen base numbers, and sacrifice hit numbers.
“I think the more diversified your portfolio is as an offense, the higher percentage chance that you're gonna win. And we're playing in a big ballpark against the lefty (Virginia’s Andrew Abbott) who I bet his teammates will argue is the best left-handed pitcher in the country, and a program that's very storied and very well-versed in Omaha. So I can't tell you exactly what the script is gonna look like, but I can tell you the script calls for you to compete your butt off and scratch and claw and find any way to score.”
The discussion of how Tennessee’s offense will play in T.D Ameritrade has been the biggest topic regarding the Vols in Omaha.
Although the ballpark may prove to tame the hot-hitting Volunteers, they’ll still have an advantage playing in a bigger stadium. Frank Anderson's pitching staff has the second-lowest ERA (3.42) in the SEC. And that's while playing in an extremely hitter-friendly ball park.
“I do think it'll favor our pitchers,” Vitello said. “It's incentive to throw strikes. And one of our guys -- our guys on the mound, their brand name is trying to attack. And you get rewarded when you do throw strikes, not only in our park but especially here, because it has a tendency on most days to play bigger.
“(Blade Tidwell), Chad Dallas, Will Heflin, Sean Hunley, I think they're going to have a bit more confidence. And our guys throw strikes. If it's going to be hard to leave the yard that day, I think that plays to our advantage.”
Chad Dallas will start for Tennessee on Sunday against Virginia. Dallas is 11-1 on the season with an ERA of 4.10.The junior right-hander has struck out 118 hitters in 96.2 innings.
Whether the Vols win or lose their opener, they’ll player either Texas or Mississippi State on Tuesday.
