Tony Vitello shares what makes Southern Miss' Tanner Hall dangerous

Tennessee is set to travel to Southern Miss this weekend for the 2023 NCAA Hattiesburg Super Regional, and the Vols will have to have to overcome Golden Eagles ace Tanner Hall in Game 1.

Vols head coach Tony Vitello had nothing but great things to say about the junior pitcher while discussing his takeaways from film this week.

“He takes advantage of hitters who are overzealous — really preys on hitters who are overzealous. … And then he’s looking for you to beat the ball into the ground,” Vitello said ahead of the Super Regional series. “His stuff matches up with that approach and it’s worked well for him to get ground balls.”

Southern Miss has leaned heavily on the arm of Hall over the past two seasons. During his sophomore season in 2022, he pitched 109 innings totaling 146 strikeouts with a 2.81 ERA. Coming into the 2023 season as a preseason All-American, Hall has exceeded expectations during his junior campaign.

This season, Hall (12-3) has earned Sun Belt Pitcher of the Year Honors thanks to his stellar 2.08 ERA (1.02 WHIP) in 118.0 innings pitched. In that time, opposing bats were held to .202 at the plate; Hall has only allowed 25 earned runs this season on 78 hits (only five were home runs). He also boasts a 31 percent strikeout percentage, retiring 119 of the 386 batters he has faced this season.

“It takes two to tango,” Vitello said. “He could face a hitter that’s either really talented or has the perfect approach, but he’s good enough to get guys out Mano a Mano as well.

“As we try to get our pitchers to understand, especially when they’re freshmen, there are other things besides pitching. You’ve got to be well-rounded by getting in a rhythm on the mound, defending your position, holding on runners. [Hall’s] really well-rounded at all of those things that you could define as ‘extra.’ But as a coach, you throw them all in the same hat of being a pitcher.”

Whether the Vols can escape Hall’s pitches remains to be seen, but Vitello’s squad has faced some of the best pitchers in the country all season long. Even if Hall bests Tennessee in the opener — the Vols might have their backs against the wall, but they’d still be alive and kicking. Not to mention Hall will be resting in game two.

Game 1 of the 2023 NCAA Hattiesburg Super Regional is set for 2 p.m .ET live inside Pete Taylor Park with ESPNU carrying the national broadcast.