Tony Vitello credits Christian Moore for sustained success

Christian Moore rewrote the Tennessee record books earlier this week, setting a new program record for home runs in a single season with 25 during the series opener vs. South Carolina on Thursday.

He has since added to those numbers as the series against the Gamecocks has continued. His continuous success has turned him into a name that teams circle in every scouting report, which Vols head coach Tony Vitello spoke to after the 9-3 series-opening victory on Thursday.

“I think that’s a big thing for pitchers and hitters because there’s so much information and people scheme and game plan for you and things like that,” Vitello explained after Thursday’s 9-3 win over the Gamecocks. “You have to be able to counter adjust and I don’t want to say like a counter move because it’s not chess we’re playing here but you have to be able to cover your blind spots, and I don’t think you can do that in one day or one sit down or one video session.

“You want to win awards, you want to win games, you want to get recognized, you want to get honored, you want the results to go your way, but if you just kind of tunnel it down to what you have control over and what you need to do every day for those things to happen is just keep evolving. It’s been interesting to watch him and Blake Burke and [Kavares Tears] especially, just evolve and become complete players.”

Moore broke Tennessee’s single-season home run record in the first inning vs. the Gamecocks during the season-opener on Thursday, mashing his 25th of the season during his first plate appearance of the day. He came into the series averaging a team-high .377 batting average to go with 80 hits, 37 extra-base hits and 57 RBIs as well.

While Moore’s record speaks for itself, that didn’t stop Vitello from poking fun at his star slugger when asked if he considers Moore to be a contender for SEC Player of the Year honors.

“I think he should be,” Vitello said. “I think if they were giving away an award for running hard down to first, he’s probably going to finish, I don’t know, 362nd or something like that.”

Up 2-0 in the series heading into Saturday’s regular-season finale, Tennessee will look to roll into next week’s SEC Tournament coming off a sweep of No. 23 South Carolina with a win. First pitch inside Lindsey Nelson Stadium is scheduled for 1 p.m. ET and will air live on SEC Network+.