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Tennessee

Tony Vitello explains Tennessee's fast start vs. Evansville

IMG_6598by:Nick Kosko•06/08/24•

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Saul Young/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK

It didn’t take long for Tony Vitello’s Tennessee crew to go up against Evansville in Game 2 of the Super Regional Saturday.

With a 5-3 lead in the fifth inning, Tennessee could smell the College World Series. The Volunteers raced out to a 4-0 lead before Evansville responded.

Vitello joined the ESPN broadcast just before the Vols got their fifth run across to explain the fast start.

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“I mean, it’s an early morning for both teams,” Vitello said. “These guys showed up super early today and obviously you can see they’re ready to play and battle. But our guys had a good approach as well. Not a lot of talk about yesterday or anything other than today, which is good.

“And I mean, we got after their starter pretty good. I think that was that guy’s 50th college start so it’s not like he was out there nervous or not throwing strikes. We just put good swings on him.”

Vitello was then asked about pitcher Drew Beam and what he meant to the program. Through four innings of work Saturday, Beam gave up three hits, three earned runs, issued one walk, and had five strikeouts.

“Just a ton, I mean, a transformation of the stadium but also the way we play, the results we get how our guys behave off the field,” Vitello said. “He’s a massive part of all that and it was almost uncomfortable when he was a freshman of how mature he was to some of the other guys.

“But I think (we) recognized it and thought he was going to do big things for us, but (we) didn’t think he’d do what he did freshman year and he hasn’t really slowed down. It’s nice to have something that consistent and that well-rounded of a kid every day here.”

Game 2 started with a bang as the Volunteers took a 3-0 lead in the top of the first inning courtesy of three solo home runs. Blake Burke, Dylan Dreiling and Hunter Ensley all went yard on to stun Evansville early. Burke added to the lead with a sac fly in the second inning, making it 4-0. However, Evansville battled back with three runs in the 4th courtesy of a home run from CJ McGinnis.