LSU head coach Paul Mainieri called Tennessee baseball “a sleeping giant that he’s (Tony Vitello) woken up” but four years ago when Tony Vitello took over the Vols’ program it looked anything like that.
In the seven years prior to Vitello’s arrival Tennessee had won just 10 conference games three times and the program hadn’t posted a winning record in SEC play since 2005.
Fan support was low, the facilities were the worst in the SEC, national power Vanderbilt was just down the road and poaching players out of the Vols’ back yard whenever they wanted all while a coach who had taken two different schools to Omaha failed miserably in Knoxville.
But just four years after Vitello arrived in Knoxville— and with his third full season— Tennessee dominated LSU, 15-6, to secure a birth in the College World Series.
“It’s just been an inch by inch thing,” Vitello said of his program’s resurgence postgame.
In a season that’s been full of miraculous and nerve wracking victories, Tennessee kept it easy Sunday. The Vols never trailed thanks to a solid seven inning outing from Blade Tidwell and blew the game open with a two homer, six run sixth inning that put LSU in a seven run hole it couldn’t recover from.
“There was some pretty good vibes in the dugout,” Tennessee left fielder Evan Russell said. “It was pretty expected later in the game when we were up that we were going to win that game but you can’t celebrate too early especially on a team like that. They have some mojo on that team. You have to continue to grind out the game and if you don’t let up you’ll have good success and that’s what happened with us.”
Tennessee did just that. After LSU cut the Vols lead to five runs in the seventh inning, Tennessee responded with two runs in the eighth inning and two runs in the ninth inning that made it clear to Mainieri and anyone watching that the game was over before Camden Sewell took the mound for the ninth.
Sewell's emergence over the past month rounded out a rock solid pitching staff and bullpen for Tennessee. The Vols ranked second in the SEC in team ERA and after a tough start to the NCAA Tournament against Wright State, Tennessee allowed just three runs a game in its next four contests.
In a long list of positive moves Vitello has made to rejuvenate Tennessee's program it's hard to say hiring pitching coach Frank Anderson wasn’t the most beneficial.
“Frank (Anderson) has pitched in places like Stillwater and Lubbock, or coached pitchers, in those places where the ball can absolutely fly with the wind,” Vitello said. “At the end of the day that’s our head baseball coach. I’m kind of the head coach of a lot of other things but coach Mainieri is dead on. His (Anderson’s) resume is ridiculous. I said it when I got hired, he’s kind of notorious if you follow college baseball for being the guy that when a head coach is in trouble or in hot water he comes in and saves the day and reverses that into a true 180. I figured before I ever get in trouble I should just hire him off the bat.”
The stability Anderson has brought to the Vols’ pitching staff and the competitive, never say die, nature of Vitello has Tennessee back at the pinnacle of the sport— something that seemed impossible three short years ago.
For the Tennessee players that haven’t backed down from a challenge or opponent all season, getting there is just the start. The Vols are “on the hunt” and hungry for more in Nebraska.
“It’s probably cliche to say but for me personally it’s right now,” Russell said of when his attention turns to the College World Series. “Even though it was a nice celebration out there after winning today for some reason it was expected. We have a talented group of guys. We have a lot of guys that want to win and I don’t think anybody wants to stop playing together, including the guy to my right (Jake Rucker). I’d love to play forever with him. I don’t think anyone is ready for this to end and I know for a fact no one wants this to end with us holding our heads down. I think there’s a lot of guys that are ready to get back to work tomorrow and see what Omaha’s all about.”
“We're just ready to go right now,” Tennessee third baseman Jake Rucker said. “Obviously, not a lot of teams and players get the chance to go to Omaha, but obviously that's an awesome feat. Like you said, we're going to be ready to go. We're going to be lifting tomorrow—getting after tomorrow. And (we will) just be ready to be focused on going to Omaha and be focused on that first game. We’re not taking anything for granted—just focused on the task at hand, and we will be fine.”
