Chase Burns evaluates what makes him successful in high-leverage situations

On Monday, Tennessee and Stanford met in Omaha for an elimination game. In that game, the Volunteers turned to Chase Dollander as its starter, but he struggled, allowing four runs in three innings. So, head coach Tony Vitello turned to another starter, Chase Burns, bringing him into the game out of the bullpen.

Burns dominated in response, only allowing two hits in six innings pitched. He also struck out nine. It was a dominant effort in consistently high-leverage situations. As Burns explained, being able to do this comes down to mentality.

“Coming out of the bullpen, you’ve got one thing in mind, it’s just do your job,” Chase Burns said. “No fight is too big for us. Just going to go out there, do my job, hope for the best.”

The role clearly suited Chase Burns well. However, explaining why was difficult for him to say.

“That’s hard to say. There’s a lot that goes into it. I love energy. So coming in this game I had a lot of energy. Balling it up, I knew how to go a little bit longer today. It’s a different role. But happy to be in it.”

At this point, head coach Tony Vitello chimed in. He argued that because of what this Tennessee team has been through, players like Chase Burns know how to deal with adversity and challenging situations.

“I think regardless what inning he or other guys are throwing in, it was a crazy beginning of the season. And the whole group needed that. We needed to find our way but we also kind of needed to reset,” Vitello said.

“And whether it’s individually or as a team, Jared [Dickey] mentioned it, just coming together and finding a way to be the best version of ourselves because we were fighting so many extra battles at the beginning of the year. And now we’re just fighting the game and the opponent, which if you’re in this place it’s hard enough as is. So there’s no reason to fight extra battles.”

Chase Burns on how the Volunteers can make a deep College World Series run

After the win against Stanford, Chase Burns explained that Tennessee is capable of making a deep run so long as they turn it on.

“Yeah, you know, this team can be really special,” Burns said. “We can turn it on. We have to leave it on for us to make it far in this tournament.”

Chase Burns also explained that Tennessee has the kind of pitching staff that can shut any team down.

“Yea, you know, this staff is so deep with different pitches. Every guy in this dugout has a different specialty, and I know one of [Seth Halvorsen’s] is his changeup. You know, against that good lineup, I knew I had to use all four of my pitches today. So, just asked him a little tip or trick just to get my changeup a little bit better. And he really did help me.”