Tony Vitello details impact of seeding, matchups in SEC Tournament
Tennessee head baseball coach Tony Vitello has become a SEC Tournament veteran, in the midst of his seventh season at the helm for the Volunteers. Who have the top seed in this year’s conference tourney.
The Volunteers finished the regular season with a 46-11 overall record with a 22-8 finish in conference play to tie the SEC lead with Kentucky. But their series win over the Wildcats in April gave them the top seed in Hoover, Alabama this week. And during Tennessee’s elimination game against Texas A&M on Thursday, Vitello was asked if the mindset of his team stays the same or changes during the postseason.
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“I think try to stay the same, you want to stay true to your roots, what kind of got you there,” Vitello said. “But for this team in particular, kind of keep evolving and playing well. I mean a good summary of our SEC league play was we lost our first series, we were able to win all three games of our last one, and along that way we had a lot of different things happen and things kind of improve for us. So keep pushing forward.”
Following a first-round bye, the Volunteers dropped their first game of the SEC Tournament on Wednesday. Suffering a 13-4 loss to the conference’s bottom seed Vanderbilt Commodores. But according to Vitello, sometimes being the lower seed in Hoover Metropolitan Stadium works favorably.
“Yeah I mean Tuesday vs Wednesday is very very different. For those teams that can win on Tuesday you kind of get a little running start into this thing that I think can be an advantage. But at the same time, when you’re playing that cut-throat game it’s tough, you’d much rather be on Wednesday obviously because you’re in the top four overall,” Vitello explained.
“But it does help to practice on the field Monday, get into a little rhythm. But you’ve got to win that game Tuesday, so it’s a little different based on what team you have, but more importantly what day and what time you’re going to play.”
Vitello’s point can be proven through the result of this year’s tournament, with each of the SEC’s top four team’s suffering losses on Wednesday and facing elimination in today’s games. Speaking not just to the momentum that can be generated on Tuesday, but the overall strength of the SEC.
“I think there’s parity, or a lot of depth, whichever you want to call it. Pitching matchups have a lot to do with it, and then again, I think you do get a little bit of a running start into Wednesday. But to be honest with you, once the game starts this is a great field, there’s a lot of familiarity with the opponents,” Vitello said. “So it’s whoever plays best that day, and obviously yesterday we got outplayed and today so far we’ve got a little bit of a grudge match. But we’ve got some punching back to do after that homer.”
The Vols found themselves down 1-0 heading into the bottom of the third inning following a Gavin Grahovac solo home run. But Tennessee did punch back thanks to a sacrifice fly-out from Dylan Dreiling that evens the game up at 1-1 heading into the fourth inning.