Tony Vitello has interesting response when asked about pressure on Tennessee in Super Regionals

Tennessee coach Tony Vitello isn’t putting pressure on his team heading into Game 3 of Super Regionals against Notre Dame on Sunday. The Volunteers coach watched his team stave off elimination Saturday with a dominant 12-4 victory against the Fighting Irish, and is hopeful they can do it one more time.

However, he also knows getting his team prepared will be no easy task. If Tennessee gets too focused on the stage and what the game means rather than approaching it like any other, Vitello believes it could be detrimental.

“I think tomorrow it’s a ball game and you run around out there and you play,” Vitello said postgame on Saturday. “Fortunately, our guys had a situation today where they got to know what it feels like to, ‘Hey, you gotta get it done or you go home.’ But at the same time, if you go home, you go home. Home is a good place to be. It ain’t life and death.

“At least (Luc Lipcius) listens to me. He said, ‘All we’re looking for whether it’s the pitcher or a pinch runner or a guy playing defense is just to go out there and compete.’ That’s the most important thing to me. It ain’t life and death after that. We’re blessed with a lot of guys who do that. Sometimes it boils over and they take it to an extreme, but I think it’s comforting to come to work and know that guys are looking forward to competing and take challenges head on even though in this league and the postseason you get punched in the mouth and gut sometimes.”

The No. 1 overall seed in the tournament, the Volunteers are considered the favorite by many to win the College World Series. However, Tennessee was dealt a huge blow when it dropped the Super Regionals series opener on Friday to Notre Dame. That put the Volunteers in a position where they had to win Saturday to avoid an early exit.

If they felt any pressure at all, they certainly didn’t show it. Tennessee took an early 1-0 lead in the first inning before blowing the game open with eight runs in the fifth inning off of four home runs, including two from Lipcius. The game was never in doubt from that point on as they cruised to the crucial victory.

After the win, Vitello provided insight into how he was able to get his players to remain calm in spite of the situation they were in.

“I think (it’s just) being able to move on to whatever you’ve got in front of you,” he said. “Right now what the guys have got to do is eat the postgame meal. There’s not much you can do about tomorrow right now. You either be with your family or your buddies or just hang out by yourself and await your next task. I think it’s all about being in an appropriate position to be prepared for that next deal and then not letting anything take you off course. Which, everybody’s human and it’s gonna happen to you. Something negative or a punch in the gut can take you off course, but you can also get too excited. This is an emotional deal and that can take you off course as well.”

Vitello will hope his team can adopt the same mindset heading into Sunday’s winner-take-all matchup. The contest is one of three Game 3s from Super Regionals action set to take place Sunday, and the start time has still yet to be announced.