Tony Vitello provided Tennessee's defense with some motivation back in February.

On the eve of the Vols' baseball season, Vitello felt comfortable with how the coaching staff had built the roster offensively. Tennessee was returning a number of proven power hitters and added a few more from the transfer portal.

As far as pitching and the infield, there were some concerns, but if some of the players felt slighted, they've started to prove otherwise. Vitello is OK with that.

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"I think (the defense is) a little bit (underrated) and maybe that came with the start of the year and doubts from the coaching staff," Vitello said. "One thing we felt good about is we had depth offensively and we did have a lot of guys that were interchangeable at different positions...But we didn't feel like defense and pitching we're here to brag about it even though we want that to be our strengths."

Uncertainty has now given way to confidence as Tennessee latest triumph—a series sweep of Missouri last weekend—showed.

After mashing six home runs in Game 1 Thursday, Tennessee (37-7, 15-6 SEC) needed its pitching and some heads up play from every other position on the field to win its sixth-straight series and make headway in the SEC Eastern Division race.

In Game 2 alone, Dean Curley went high to snatch a would-be hit at shortstop to end a Missouri threat. Kavares Tears turned a double play with a long throw from right field to Blake Burke at first base. Catcher Cal Stark made the first of multiple back-picks in the series to throw a runner out.

"It was a good night defensively, and I don't know if there's been any better," Vitello said. "But regardless, I think this is a staple win, defensively leading the way. (Thursday), the bats kind of led the way, and you talk about...how many different ways can your team win? And you are going to have to do that."

Starting right-handed pitcher Drew Beam, who had some early struggles in league play, continued his resurgence with eight strikeouts and more than six scoreless innings. Even when Missouri homered to cut the Vols' lead to one run in the eighth, relievers Kirby Connell and Aaron Combs preserved a 3-2 victory out of the bullpen.

MORE FROM VOLREPORT: Tennessee remains at No. 3 in latest D1Baseball Top 25

"I think I've found some things," Beam said. "Obviously there's some things I want to continue working on, but I do feel a lot better than I did at the start of the season."

"It's nice knowing that as the season goes on, we can win in a lot of different ways," Beam said. "It's very important as we get late into the season and stuff like that. Just knowing that we can beat teams in a plethora of different ways is key for a really quality team."

Tennessee needed its bullpen again in Game 3 and it delivered, first with starter Zander Sechrist then Nate Snead and Combs and Connell again to escape with another 3-2 win.

The Missouri series hasn't been the only proof of the bullpen's success. Marcus Phillips closed out a critical Game 3 against then-No. 3 Kentucky after entering the game in the bottom of the ninth with a two-run lead.

The Vols' pitching staff has the numbers to back it up, too ranking seventh nationally and second to only Arkansas in the conference in ERA at 3.79.

"The depth is expanding. You got Marcus Phillips and Andrew Behnke who are fresh and yet they’ve thrown a bunch lately down there in the bullpen," Vitello said. "We trusted them. If something were to go hairy with Kirby (Connell) or that game kind of had the feel of potential extra innings, you could trust those two guys against righties or lefties, or if the game is on the line, too.

"A couple of other guys have put themselves in a position where maybe they are now on the active roster and weren’t or they have a pitch developing and can do things like that."

MORE FROM VOLREPORT: Tennessee baseball scrapes past Missouri, secures series sweep

As the calendar turns to May, Tennessee is looking more complete at the right time, though Vitello says there's a ways to go in getting there.

The Vols are still among the top hitting teams in college baseball, ranking top five in home runs (121), batting average (.325) and slugging percentage (.649), having the ability to find ways to win on nights when the bats are cold is a positive sign as a critical final stretch of the regular season and postseason looms later in the month.

"We're going to have to win games like that, where an SEC weekend type starter – and it could be another league – is in his groove," Vitello said. "You don't have to win pretty, you just have to win ugly."

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