Tony Vitello dishes out pitching plans for weekend series versus Bowling Green

Tennessee baseball coach Tony Vitello gave his thoughts on how the staff will attack the starting pitching rotation for this weekend’s home series against Bowling Green at Lindsey Nelson Stadium, beginning Friday at 6:30 pm eastern time.

There’s still plenty to decide, but the one staple of the rotation isn’t moving off his scheduled day.

“[Drew] Beam will pitch on Saturday. AJ [Russell] obviously threw so well against Texas Tech, but we are reverting back to the first weekend,” the skipper said. “The one thing we do know is the consistency of Drew [Beam] and we trust him to be the rock in the middle of the week for us.

The right-handed hurler is 1-0 on the season following a combined 10.2 innings pitched over two starts (Oklahoma and Albany). Beam has allowed only three runs on 13 hits but just two have gone for extra-bases. The former high school quarterback has also struck out six and walked none thus far into the year.

Vitello then detailed his plans for Sunday on the mound where left-handed pitcher Zander Sechrist has started the first two weeks of the season.

“I think Sunday will literally be a wait – maybe even Sunday morning – to see how guys feel,” Vitello admitted. “So, that will be those two days. I think by Saturday, guys like Kirby [Connell] will be ready to come back or some other guys will be fresh.”

Friday night is the major question mark as Vitello all but confirmed earlier this week on a local radio show that No. 1 starter AJ Russell will miss his scheduled start on Friday after exiting last Friday’s game against Albany after three scoreless innings on 54 pitches.

“And now this year, AJ Russell is a little sore. If it was May, I’d be lying to you if I said I was excited. I would be a little bummed,” the coach said in the radio interview on Monday. “But because it’s this early in the year, I’m excited about AJ Russell not gobbling up five or six innings this weekend because that means five or six more [innings] are up for grabs. Who is the next Chad Dallas or maybe Drew Beam?”

Freshman Matthew Dallas started on Tuesday and threw 61 pitches. Reliever Nate Snead, who also pitched on Sunday, logged 44 pitches on Tuesday. Freshman right-handed hurler Derek Schaefer could be an option, but the skipper made it seem like his mind was already made up. Maybe.

“Friday is going to be who can get outs for us. I don’t exactly know when [AJ] Causey will get them, but he’s kind of been a Friday combo guy with AJ [Russell],” Vitello said on Tuesday. “So, he’ll pitch in some capacity, and we will need him to get out here. It will be fun for him because the game ended against [Texas Tech] and the other game his outing ended really before he hit a pitch count limit. So, will entrust the ball with him in some form or fashion for a good amount of time.”

Causey, who earned SEC Co-Pitcher of the Week honors following Opening Weekend, has been off to a strong start to his Tennessee career. The righty has allowed just one earned run (3 total) over give hits in 7.2 innings of work out of the bullpen with nine strikeouts to only one walk. He was the Friday night starter for Jacksonville State in 2023, so he’s capable of getting the job done if needed.

“But there’s going to be some other guys that need to be hungry to get out here and just get outs for us – whenever they are and however they can get them,” the coach concluded. “[Aaron] Combs was hot and that was [Nate] Snead’s last hitter, so I’m sure that feeling of being hot and wanting to go into the game will carry over to Friday for Combsy.” 

Tennessee begins the three-game series with Bowling Green on Friday at 6:30 pm eastern time.