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Austin Hunley benefitting from added confidence on the mound

On3 imageby:Eric Cain•about 9 hours•

_Cainer

Tennessee pitcher Austin Hunley. Credit: UT Athletics
Tennessee pitcher Austin Hunley. Credit: UT Athletics

Tennessee has a lot of good pitchers. Tony Vitello and Frank Anderson have more than enough options to get through a weekend series. Sometimes, like this past weekend’s sweep of Samford for example, there’s several arms that don’t see the light of day.

Austin Hunley isn’t one of them as the Vols have made it abundantly clear through the first seven games of the season that the righty is well within their plans moving forward.  

“He’s got the composure you’re looking for. You consistently get strikes,” Vitello said of Hunley following Sunday’s win. “He is very well-rounded and the cool thing is he’s just getting a little better each day that he’s on campus. And I think that’s taking place now too.”

The right-hander earned the win for Tennessee in Sunday’s 11-1 victory over Samford as Hunley tossed two innings of scoreless relief while allowing two hits and tallying a pair of strikeouts over 31 pitches.

It’s the second win of the early season already for the pitcher as he collected the victory last Saturday against Hofstra. Hunley is tied with Brandon Arvidson for the team-lead of three appearances thus far. Tennessee is absolutely making it a point to throw him on the regular.   

“I would say it is a mentality aspect. I’m a lot more confident in my pitches. Just going out here and being confident in what I have, what I can do and knowing what type of pitcher I am,” Hunley said of his approach in 2025. “Beng a sinker-baller and a slider, you’re going to get ground balls. So, just trusting your defense behind you to make plays for you.”

Hunley entered the ballgame Sunday in the third inning with no outs and a runner at first base. He allowed a single but struck out two and forced a flyout to centerfield to escape the inning with two runners on. He pitched a clean fourth inning and even fielded his position extremely well on a hard comebacker for the third out of the frame.

“Sinker, slider. My slider is my go-to off-speed and I just threw that away to righties,” the pitcher said of his outing. “They were having some trouble hitting it so I stuck with it. And then I tried to bang my sinker inside and get some soft contact on it. It was working for me.”

It’s a great start for a guy who registered only eight appearances over his first two years on campus. The younger brother of former Vol Sean Hunley redshirted in 2023 and made eight appearances out of the bullpen last season – all but two n the midweeks and none in Southeastern Conference play. Hunley entered the season with a career 6.23 ERA over 8.2 innings pitched with five strikeouts and one walk.

So far in 2025, Hunley has earned two wins over three scoreless appearances of 3.1 innings pitched. And in every game he has entered thus far, he’s inherited base runners.  

“I think the biggest thing is, from the outside, he looks more confident,” catcher Stone Lawless said of Hunley. “He can spin that slider anywhere he wants it. He’s just locating that heater, too. He goes out there and whatever we call, I’m 100 percent confident it is going to be in that location. I think that’s the biggest point.

“He’s going to go out there and get outs and challenge the hitters. If he gives up a hit – whatever. He is going to get back in the zone.”

Whether it’s long-relief, bridge or a midweek starter – Hunley’s role has amplified tremendously this season. Hard work has undoubtedly gone into it, but so has a new confidence around him.

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