Tennessee's Tony Vitello gives final thoughts ahead of first pitch

Tennessee baseball is closing in on the start of the 2024 season.

Ahead of first pitch in Arlington, head coach Tony Vitello met with the media to give his final thoughts before beginning year seven in Knoxville.

Here are the main points he made.

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The overwhelming consensus heading into the season was that Drew Beam would get the ball to start weekends and AJ Russell would follow him. However, Vitello revealed he has a different plan to get the season started.

On Friday against No. 18 Texas Tech, it'll be the sophomore Russell on the mound. Then, on Saturday against Oklahoma, Beam will make his season debut.

"To me, it's about stability," said Vitello on the choice. "When you go into day two, you want to kind of know what you're getting. I think on top of that, I think (Beam) is willing to take the ball in any facet or any way, shape or form you want to do throughout the year."

It is still unclear who will start on Sunday against Baylor, though. There are multiple candidates for the job with more than one likely playing in the role during the out-of-conference slate.

There will also be a load of newcomers making debuts out of the bullpen.

"We've got a bunch of guys we want to get out of the bullpen for their first time wearing a Vol uniform," said Vitello.

Before the season even started, Tennessee suffered some injuries. A group of highly-touted freshmen and a junior were forced to sit out a period of the off-season as they recovered from their respective injuries.

This included Ariel Antigua who was projected to start in the middle infield in his first year.

"Ariel is coming along," said Vitello. "He's able to use his lower half in any way, shape or form that we want as coaches. But he did have the thumb issue so we have to be a little patient where he's doing anything swinging a bat or fielding. He is able to play catch."

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The other freshman is Dean Curley who looked to make an impact as an infielder in year one. Alex Perry has also suffered a lower-body blow entering his junior season.

"Knowing Dean, as big and physical he is and confident as a kid, he's going to want to play Friday," said Vitello. "Whether he'd be in the lineup even if he wanted to, we haven't even got that far. It's been nice to see the competition we've had. I think Dean and Alex Perry both had lower half injuries that were minor and if push came to shove we could use both of them on Friday."

With Antigua out of the mix to start, questions arose at the middle infield position. During the recent intrasquad weekend series, it was Christian Moore at shortstop and Bradke Lohry at second.

Vitello confirmed this is the plan to start.

"(Moore) and Bradke will be two of the main stays," said Vitello. "I think we mentioned Curley and Perry. We'll assess where their bodies are at it'll be nice to kind of see those guys. I'm sure I'm leaving someone out. Cam Bates is from Oklahoma so it'll be cool to have him in the dugout and he's performed really well. He just keeps increasingly gets better. (Moore) and Bradke are two older guys that we trust and will be out there at some point."

He isn't afraid to experiment, though. There might be some surprises at the position over the opening weekend and through out-of-conference play.

"Heck, Hunter Ensley was at second base and (Dalton) Bargo during some of the drill work was in the middle," said Vitello. "We've moved guys all over the place. It's going to be a group where we experiment a little bit. I don't want to drive these guys crazy but we don't want to leave any stone unturned, either."

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