Starting Saturday, Tennessee baseball will square off with Arkansas in the 2025 Fayetteville Super Regional for a chance to earn a spot in the College World Series.

The Vols are fighting for a chance to repeat as national champions while the Razorbacks are looking for their first title.

Before the matchup, UT coach Tony Vitello met with the media to give his thoughts. Here's what he said.

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"I think every game we’ve played since we’ve been there has been basically cut-throat. I know it’s a double-elimination format once you get to the regional. Different type of format going to Hoover this year and we’ve had some good appearances and runs in Hoover, but we’ve also had a couple times whether it went good or bad, the first day wasn’t great. And our guys were tremendous against Alabama right out of the chute. And then the Texas game, I haven’t rewatched it, but I’m going to wait and we’ll rewatch the whole regular broadcast, not just our scouting report one, because it was an ESPN Classic. I don’t see how that one didn’t help both teams in some way, shape or form or at least I can say that it helped ours. Didn’t go the way we wanted in game three and then we go to the regional, but all those scenarios, whether they were positive or negative on the scoreboard, were great for our team. So little more experience, little more maturity and then I think as the year has gone on, blame the coaches or me for taking too long, but I think it’s been a year where you’re kind of sorting out what do you want the lineup to be, where you want certain pitchers to go and I think we have a better understanding of that now than maybe we did back then or definitely prior to that."

"We got work to do, they’re good. I mean, if I’m not mistaken, by default, or as we now stand, they’re the No. 1 seed or the favorite to win the whole thing. So, they’re good. We knew that, learned that last time. That hasn’t changed. I know as well as anyone that it’s a rowdy environment to play in and they’ll probably kick it up a notch this time of year, as our fans did last year. It’s an SEC series. Just has different labels to it for circumstances that follow and definitely circumstances that precede it."

"We’ve given it thought and we just finished practice. We’re going to go up there, rally. Actually, administration is helping us with things. Have a meeting with that, too. So, by the time everyone goes home, we’d like to have a firm decision on what we want to do and even kind of talk about some things that might occur past the first inning. Day three doesn’t exist until it comes but, just map all that stuff out as best we can and then embrace the chaos once we start. We mentioned, it was randomly how it came up, we talked about when we went to Hattiesburg and had the lightning delay and all that. On the field will be definitely the ability to embrace the chaos is something you have to have this time of year, but there’ll be other things that happen whether it’s weather, too. So, we want to look at all those circumstances and then when it starts, we’ll just roll with what’s going on."

"I think what he needed was time and part of it is days to recover and get back to full strength, but also part of it is time to get in the training room and kind of reset some things with Woody. To be honest with you, today was the first day where we were really active and I wouldn’t have thought of it until you mentioned it. So I don’t foresee it being an issue. I think the big thing for him is being out there and having the peace of mind, not having it in the back of his mind so he can enjoy it. He’s at his best when he’s playing like a Little Leaguer. So that maybe served as a distraction last weekend."

"I fully understand it’s not exactly an SEC conference series, but it’s an SEC series, and he’s caught in SEC games and we’ve won some of those games, too. So, he’s prepared. And then with his work ethic, that was one of my favorite things about last year’s group, and he was a part of it, it just was a culture Coach E has created with the catchers, is you put in extra work, and when you are working, you have an intent approach to it. So, he’s a part of that group. So, I’d kind of say the same thing about anyone, but yeah, you mentioned the teammate factor, there is a little bit of a difference there with Stone. And on top of the fact, I think he’s prepared, you’re not going to find a coach when I go back to the office, the whole staff is going to be up there, you’re not going to find somebody that’s not excited to see him play. And I guess equally, I could say if you wanted to tap any of our pitchers on the shoulder before they get on the bus tomorrow, you’re not going to find one that’s not excited to throw to him or willing to throw to him and enjoy that camaraderie that’s there."

"Well, I learned a lot from Coach Van Horn. So, there’s certainly, when you bring Frank on board, he brings his deal and Q is definitely I feel a unique X-factor for us. But, there’s some things that I learned there that I would have never known or never would have experienced without his first believing in me and then help. So, there’s some similarities or a bridge there a little bit. And then, we didn’t know that it would become this here with our fan base is what I’m getting at. And I was a little concerned on whether we could sustain success here, because in our league you have to have a true home field advantage and they’ve had it for decades. And really, I guess after COVID, even kind of during, in ‘21 especially, we had the comforting feeling that this is one of the rowdiest places to play, as well. So, there’s two similarities and maybe there’s more. I played with Matt Hobbs, their pitching coach. He does a great job, but again, it’s a different style. But this time of year, you certainly want to have confidence in the way your pitchers are coached and also the available arms you have, but it’s also different. I remember getting here and collectively as a staff we had success recruiting at Arkansas and the stadium helped and all that. But people here were like just do what you did at Arkansas, they’re winning some games. And it’s a total different place. Same league, state university, flagship school and all that, but Knoxville is different and baseball in our state’s different and the way we want to do some things here is a little bit different. So again, the bottom line is, all that stuff’s extra. They say SEC, 'it just means more.' And a lot of the things that fall under that true cliche, I think are at both places, and that’s why the last series was fun, and like I said, they bested us. So, got work to do."

"Yeah, I’m frustrated. I kind of led the charge. A lot of times you just recruit a guy as a staff, but I led the charge on a guy named Rick Nomura and Rick was a talented player from Hawaii at a junior college, and I think he’s helped serve as a bridge, because it’s not just the brothers. They got another one over there that’s been injured, but a real talent that’s a young kid from Hawaii. So it’s pretty cool how they've started a little trend there. I kind of hate that I was a part of it since I’m wearing orange. But, their offense is kind of what people talk about, but a lot of those guys, you look behind the plate and their third baseman, a lot of those guys that are big, physical hitters, you kind of jump to the conclusion maybe they’re a DH or they’re in there just for their offense, but on both sides of the ball, pretty much their starting nine are all real good on both sides of the ball. And there’s a lot of experience in there. It’s a good blend of transfers, whether they be from juco or portal. So, I think you can single out players, being a Golden Spikes Finalist is a big deal, but I think if you watch them or review our series, it’s kind of a complete team, which, again, is why they would kind of, as we stand here now, at least on paper, they would sit on the throne."

"I think looking at everything that went on in the first series and trying to eliminate any mistakes that are obvious. And then going and playing the way that we’re playing now. Then, I think, you mentioned the skill set. It’s very high in both dugouts. I think when we went there, the mindset and the mentality wasn’t necessarily where it needed to be. And a lot of it kind of fell off of the previous games that led before our trip going to Fayetteville. And I think our guys now realize that a fresh start is a great thing, especially in baseball. And last weekend was awesome. That game was epic on Monday and thank you to the fans for that and there’s some memories in there that will never go away. But now we’ve had a couple days, the guys are ready to move on to a new fresh start. And while it is an SEC series and it’s just a three game series, it truly is kind of just a mini tournament in between the regionals and what will follow."

"I do remember it because I was shaking the cobwebs out from the night before. Our families and fans, we took over that hotel and I don’t know what time everybody shut it down. It wasn’t like a rowdy celebration, although the police did show up. There’s a good picture that we could share if you wanted to see that. I just remember it was early in the morning and trying to get my bearings, from my side, it got kind of emotional. But he was very generous with some of his compliments and was appreciative of some things and I was, too. So, you know, guys, especially when you’re in uniform, I think people don’t understand, especially our sport, because the coaches wear a uniform, too, these are like costumes and it’s like recess out there. So, there’s wild stuff that go on. And then, having said that, too, when your teammates with somebody, guys a lot of times aren’t good at showing you appreciation or how they feel about one another. We had an argument in the past and I quickly said to a lot of people, first of all, it should have been handle without the public eye seeing, but you don’t have an argument with somebody like that you meet on the street. At least I wouldn't. I have with my sisters, I can tell you that. I don’t think with my parents, I’m too afraid to do that. There’s a lot of memories there and all I did there was trying to work my butt off. I was still young and probably a little foolish, but I was in the car a lot. For the first time, I had a guy that we really synced up well on the recruiting front, it was a good one-two punch."

"I think they do. I think you take on the personality of your leaders and whose got the ball in that particular moment. The way he treats the game, it’s almost like he’s in a bar fight. I don’t know if that’s the best way to say it. Or, the intensity that was with that hockey game last night to start Stanley Cup, it’s incredibly intense. So, you’re way out of whack if you’re not intense in the dugout and intense in the field. So, me surveying all this is make sure it’s the right kind of intensity or the right level. So, that’s why there was a back and forth and Dean is trying to figure out what I’m trying to say and all this other craziness. But he’s also matured a lot, that is Liam. And he’s got a level of composure that comes with that intensity that I think is a unique combination. And again, that’s something our guys follow his lead on."

"I don’t think that will matter. Although, you weren’t the first one to bring that up. It’s a wise observation. But in the fall and in the spring, they kind of had a rapport there and we had our reasonings why we switched something one day, whether it was Kentucky or whoever it was. I don’t remember. We just decided to go with the lineup that we’ve rolled with and it’s served us well. But there’s guys that are standing there that are fully capable. I mean, we had one guy this week swung it as well as anybody humanly possibly could in the at-bats that he was given. So, there’s guys we look down on the right that we have confidence in and Stone is one of them. But, he’s the next guy up and he’s ready to go. I think the pitching decision will be more about the pitcher himself, but you got a good point there."

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