Tennessee baseball coach Tony Vitello complements fanbase ahead of Super Regional

Tennessee baseball has experienced a meteoric rise under head coach Tony Vitello, sparking a rally from local fans to show up day after day to support the Volunteers at Lindsey Nelson Stadium in Knoxville, Tennessee. Now ranked No. 1 in the country and a heavy favorite to win the national title, the support is at an all-time high.

Tony Vitello has noticed the impact fans make on his players when they step on the diamond at Lindsey Nelson Stadium and took time to recognize the boost ahead of next week’s Super Regional.

“I think our players are really at the best when we’re [playing at home],” said Vitello, via SEC Network. “It’s a different vibe and it’s become an X-factor here and you have to have that in our league in order to sustain success.”

The Volunteers are now 37-3 at home this season including the three wins which came in the Regional Round of the NCAA Tournament. The only losses inside their home stadium came against Alabama, Auburn and Georgia in series which Tennessee would go on to win. Vitello’s squad is also riding an 11-game win streak going into the best-2-out-of-3 series against Notre Dame for a berth in the College World Series.

Tennessee baseball was without starting catcher Evan Russell on Friday against Alabama State in the Volunteers’ first game of the Knoxville Regional. While Tennessee went on to win 10-0 to stay in the winners bracket, the game was not without controversy and speculation, most of which surrounded Russell.

Tony Vitello defends Evan Russell after false report

Tennessee head coach Tony Vitello said after the win over Alabama State that Russell was out due to an illness. Prior to Saturday’s matchup against Campbell, Russell was cleared and more information arose on his situation. According to Russell’s dad, he was dealing with anxiety and stress, which resulted in his absence on Friday.

Following Tennessee’s win over Campbell on Saturday, Vitello again elaborated on Russell’s situation. Russell had one at-bat against Campbell, and he had a single and a stolen base despite not being in the starting lineup.

“First, you guys have a job to do, so I understand the persistence, but we kept coming back to the same topic last night,” Vitello started. “At the time, it was all I knew, but this morning, we knew more this morning about clearing Evan Russell. The school and program is going to do what every school and program should do and probably does, and that is protect the privacy when it comes to one of our player’s health.

“Obviously tonight, a situation arose where we were able to use Evan. Regardless, having him back around is going to make an impact on these guys. He’s going to help our team win. At the end of the day, that is kind of my philosophy; I’m just looking for good teammates in this program. That’s all I have on that topic.”