Tennessee manager Tony Vitello confirms pitching plan for Super Regional

Tennessee manager Tony Vitello has confirmed the Volunteers pitching plan for their showdown in the Super Regional against Notre Dame this weekend.

According to Wes Rucker, the Volunteers skipper knows who will be on the mound for Game 1 and Game 2, but Game 3 is still up in the air.

“#Vols coach Tony Vitello confirmed the Super Regional pitching plan,” tweeted Rucker. “Game One — Blade Tidwell. Game Two — Chase Dollander. Game Three, if necessary — TBD.”

First, Tidwell will begin the series, and Tennessee will be happy to have him on the hill. Throughout the season, the elite pitcher has allowed eight runs over 36.0 innings pitched. Additionally, he’s struck-out 48 batterrs.

Next, Dollander has amassed a 9-0 record on the season, striking out 103 batters over 72.0 innings pitched. Whether it’s an elimination game for Tennessee or not, the Volunteers will be elated to have him throwing strikes for them.

It should be a great weekend of baseball when Tennessee takes on Notre Dame in the Super Regional, and Tony Vitello has plans on advancing to the next round.

More on Tony Vitello, Tennessee Baseball

Continuing, the Volunteers baseball team took care of business in their Regional Round of the tournament. Tennessee made quick work of the Knoxville regional, going a perfect 3-0. That win was spearheaded by Tennessee’s big bats and powerful pitching.

After advancing to Super Regionals, Vitello gave a colorful response on the performance of two of his left-handed pitchers, Kirby Connell and Will Mabrey, over the final two regional games.

“Yeah, it was Yogi Berra deja vu all over again,” said Vitello when commenting on Mabrey’s play against Georgia Tech. “I don’t know how many voices you guys have in your head, but I have a lot. And it was like, ‘Hey, this guy is doing the exact same thing as Kirby, and shut up, just let it happen; you don’t want to jinx it or whatever.’ But I guess I’m the only one that can hear my thoughts.

“That’s the best I can represent it. As good as he was last night and as key as it was in the victory, the same was tonight. It was just a different guy that works equally as hard. I think he is equally as good of a kid and loves the Vols, probably the same as Kirby; if not more based off he just grew up down the road a little.”

Mabrey came out the gate strong in Tennessee’s closeout game of the Knoxville Regional against Georgia Tech. Over three innings and two-thirds, the Vols’ left-handed pitcher silenced the Yellow Jackets’ bats. Mabrey gave up five hits, but that was it as he didn’t allow a single run and had five strikeouts.

On Saturday, a fellow left-handed pitcher in Connell had a strong relief outing. Connell faced 17 batters over four innings and gave up just two runs on three hits. He also had four strikeouts, walked two batters, and finished the game with a 1.45 ERA.