To the outside eye, Tennessee’s series against Mississippi State was a success. The Vols showed they can compete with a Top 5 team in the country and pickup a win. To head coach Tony Vitello, the weekend was a missed opportunity.
“There are no medals being handed out to these guys for second place or close place,” Vitello said.
“Last year, to be honest with you, I kinda would have gone back in the coaches locker room and said ‘Wow, we kinda gave them hell this weekend and good job we got our win.’ That’s not where we’re at right now. We’re able to beat teams like that. We’re able to beat teams like Vanderbilt and Georgia.”
Vitello’s mindset shows that he’s a true competitor and, while he understands the severity of the rebuild he faces, he’s not going to shy away from what he believes his team can do.
To a degree he is right, Tennessee could have won the series last weekend against Mississippi State, and Vitello’s response to not winning it is exactly what Vol fans should want hear.
Vitello understands that his squad can’t leave runners stranded on third base like they did. The room for error is just too small, but to him, that isn’t an excuse for not getting the job done.
“When it gets tough out there you have to be tougher,” Vitello said. “You have to own up to the situation and you have to attack it… When you’re in a situation there aren’t any try hard.You either do it or you don’t. We’ve had some guys try real hard and that doesn’t get us anything except a ribbon we were just talking about. ‘Hey, we were real close, took them into extra innings and they’re a real good team.’ That ain’t making anyone from Coach Fulmer on down happy.”
Vitello also noted tentative and uptight at-bats from its players against Mississippi State, and it’s easy to see how players with little success in the SEC get over nervous when trying to get over the proverbial hump.
Andre Lipcius echoed some of those same thoughts Tuesday after the Vols tied the school record for home runs in a game. The seven homers against Lipscomb tied the previous record that the 1980 Tennessee team tallied against Tennessee Tech.
“I think we were just relaxed today,” Lipcius said following the win. “SEC games bring it out of you. You get all juiced up and amped up, but we just learned to calm down.”
The over amped-up or nervous approach is one that has hurt this team in the past, and while I don’t believe it has seriously hampered Tennessee this year they must completely break out of it if they want to win series against the conference’s top programs.
Now, Tennessee isn’t as good as Mississippi State, Vanderbilt, and Georgia, and like I’ve said, going 3-6 against those teams would be a success that would keep the Vols in the hunt to make the NCAA Tournament.
However, Vitello’s competitive attitude and no excuses approach has to be encouraging for Tennessee fans. If his team can rise up and meet the standard that he’s set this program will see a lot of success.
