Tony Vitello expecting 'back-and-forth battle' for Tennessee in Knoxville Super Regional

Tennessee and Evansville are locked in a dogfight in the opening game of the Knoxville Super Regional, with both teams trading some early leads in the contest as it entered the middle innings.

In the middle of the fifth inning it was tied 5-5, with Evansville rallying to answer a Tennessee surge to take the lead.

“You’re going to see a back-and-forth battle and any time you give them a mistake to capitalize on they’re old enough, they’re going to know how to do it,” coach Tony Vitello said. “We’d like to think we’ve got the same deal going in this dugout. Like I said, kind of going to be a going back-and-forth battle all weekend.”

Tennessee opened the game with a solo home run from Blake Burke in the first inning to take a 1-0 lead, then Evansville answered with a two-spot in the second inning to make it 2-1.

The power returned for the Volunteers in the bottom of the third inning, with Christian Moore hitting a two-run home run and then Billy Amick hitting a solo shot to make it 4-2.

Vitello praised his veterans.

“C-Mo and Burke have been with us since Day 1 and are truly everything we want out of our program,” Vitello said. “Development, non-stop work, straight winners if you ask me. And then Billy comes in and seamlessly fits in with those guys and the older guys and he’s been a blessing. So it’s good at the top three and we’re fortunate enough to have a lineup that can do some damage behind them too.”

After Tennessee added another run to make it 5-2 in the bottom of the fourth inning, Evansville plated three to knot it at 5-5 in the top of the fifth.

Vitello seemed convinced that seeing starting pitcher Kenton Deverman a few times would help his guys begin to make even more contact.

Sure enough, right after Vitello finished an interview on the broadcast in the bottom of the fifth inning, the Volunteers plated a go-ahead run with a deep shot that caromed off the left center field wall and drove home a run, making it 6-5.

“Third time through I think you’re just a little more familiar with a guy that’s tricky,” Vitello said. “I mean he’s got good stuff but he’s also got a tricky aspect to his deal where he works quick, he changes speeds and it’s a fastball that you can ignore the radar gun, it plays different than that.”

Tennessee plated another run to make it 7-5 on an Evansville throwing error in the bottom of the fifth inning.