Tony Vitello discusses unique circumstances surrounding Tennessee baseball's Senior Day

The Tennessee baseball team honored six seniors on Tuesday night in a game against Belmont, the final home game in Knoxville during the regular season.

And with the Volunteers looking like a bit of a long shot to host an NCAA Regional, it was probably their last outing in front of the home fans. They’ve been part of quite the turnaround.

In the three years prior to coach Tony Vitello taking over the program in 2018 the Volunteers failed to reach the 30-win mark. Since he took charge, the Volunteers have eclipsed the 40-win mark in three of five full seasons, with a chance to do it again this year.

And Tennessee baseball had an incredible 57-win season a year ago.

“Ethan Payne is one that’s been around and he’s been a part of a lot of different things in this program,” Vitello said. “But then you’ve got Griffin (Merritt) and Zane (Denton), and I don’t mean to select a few, three out of the six, and leave anybody out, but even in their short time they’ve created a lot of history.”

Those seniors have helped put Tennessee baseball back on the map in a big way.

This year probably hasn’t been quite what some hoped, with the Volunteers out of the SEC race before the final weekend of the season and jockeying for NCAA Tournament position, something that was never in question a year ago as a surefire national seed.

Vitello joked about the contributions he’s gotten from his seniors.

“Griffin’s got a couple home runs that I’d like to think there’s a few places he can go and get a free meal or free whatever it is,” he said. “I mean they’ve got students over our dugout wanting me to go to Cool Beans. I’m not going there, but maybe Griff shows up there and he gets some complimentary or — NIL, I’m not trying to create any deals, but that group’s made their mark.”

Tennessee will wrap up its regular season this weekend with a trip to South Carolina. After that the Volunteers will head to Hoover for the SEC Tournament and then the NCAA Tournament will arrive.

You can bank on Tennessee baseball being a tough out in all three. This year’s seniors have helped ensure that.

“We’ve had to make progress here in a bunch of different areas and it doesn’t happen with just one or two individuals, and it’s certainly not going to happen with a coaching staff without getting help from the players,” Vitello said. “A special group. I was glad they were able to be recognized, and some of those guys had really good nights, too.”