Tony Vitello shares how Tennessee's approach changes for the SEC Tournament
Tennessee will be the No. 1 seed in the SEC Tournament when the conference arrives in Hoover this week. It will be their second time doing that in three seasons, which is why Tony Vitello and the Vols will know what’s ahead of them this upcoming week.
Vitello spoke about how the No. 1 Volunteers will prepare for the league bracket after their 4-1 win over No. 24 South Carolina in the season finale on Saturday. He said they would wait and see what their path looks like and then set their expectations for the tournament from there.
“Yeah, I think we talked out there a little bit. We want to wait and see when we’re supposed to play on Wednesday,” said Vitello in his post-series press conference. “You always want to compete when you step on the field but we want to manage it the right way.”
“We’re kind of in a different spot than we were last year, for sure. This year is unique unto its own,” added Vitello.
Since these comments, the field is official for the action inside Hoover Met Stadium this week. The top-ranked and seeded Volunteers will play the winner of No. 8 Vanderbilt and No. 9 Florida come their first pitch of the bracket on Wednesday evening.
Tennessee enters the postseason at 46-10 overall, including 22-8 in conference play. They won all but one of their series in the league this season, which was their first of the year against Alabama in Tuscaloosa and came from a one-run loss in the rubber match. That means they won each of their final nine, including three sweeps. Their victories over the Gamecocks was the latest one as they took it by a final margin of 21-7. Most of that came from a 9-3 win on Thursday and an 8-3 victory on Friday.
Still, Vitello knows that his Volunteers can be better as they start their run in the tournaments. He and his staff know what that means to them. They will now look to see their team do those en route to their fifth win of the SEC Tournament.
“I guess what I’m getting at is we’ve already met as a coaching staff. There are certain things we want to make sure we accomplish while we’re there,” Vitello explained. “You’d like to win but we’d also like to check those boxes.”