Tennessee skipper Tony Vitello sheds light on pitching plans for Knoxville Regional

Tennessee baseball coach Tony Vitello met with members of the local media Wednesday afternoon to preview the start of the NCAA Tournament and the Knoxville Regional on Friday.

During the press conference, the seventh-year coach was asked about the pitching plans for the starting rotation – and if there would be any changes – as the No.1 overall seeded Vols prepare to welcome 2-seed Southern Miss, 3-seed Indiana and 4-seed Northern Kentucky to Lindsey Nelson Stadium.

“Not much. I think if we would have gone through that tournament and done some crazy things like Causey or Stam(os) say, ‘I’ve got an inning for you’ in the final or Beam’s always up for taking the ball,” the coach said. “The one thing about last week is it certainly was a long week and we had a lot of innings to play but we used, positionally, the bench a little bit and then pitching wise I thought we spread things out kind of how we would on a normal week. If anything, some guys were a little shorter or a little less work than normal.”

Lefty Chris Stamos has ‘opened’ the past seven games for the Volunteers in the No. 1 role. The graduate owns a 3-0 record with a 3.34 ERA on the season while compiling 29.2 innings on the mound with 32 strikeouts to 15 walks.

Veteran righty Drew Beam has made every scheduled start this season as the second-option in the rotation. The junior sits with an 8-2 record on the year and 3.92 ERA while logging a team-high 85 innings on the bump with 75 strikeouts to only 21 walks.

Senior Zander Sechrist has transitioned into the weekend role for the Volunteers this spring, making 15 starts over 16 appearances – usually on Sundays. The lefty has compiled a 3-1 record with a 3.90 ERA and has tossed 12 innings of two-run baseball in his past two starts heading into postseason play.

Long-reliever AJ Causey, who has started six games over 15 appearances on the year, can start if needed, but has served in the piggy-back role following Stamos for the second half of the season. The sidewinder has impressed with an 11-3 record on the season and a 4.10 ERA with a combined 100 strikeouts (team-high) and 16 walks.  

Versatile bullpen arm Nate Snead started Wednesday’s game against Vanderbilt in the SEC Tournament, but has been used as a Swiss Army Knife out of the Tennessee bullpen this year. The right-handed flame-thrower has compiled an 8-2 record on the year with a 3.26 ERA, and is tied for the team-high with five saves.

“So, I think it’s just the start of a new weekend and it’s certainly the start of a new tournament which can sort of feel like the start of a new season,” Vitello continued. “So, what happened in the regular season is great but it’s over with. What happened in Hoover was a lot of fun but it’s over with. This is a fresh start and it’s four teams vying to be the one team that wins it.”

Freshman Dylan Loy, who dazzled in long-relief of Sunday’s Southeastern Conference Tournament Championship game win over LSU, is also an option to start if needed.

Tennessee enters postseason play ranked fourth in the country with a team ERA of 3.83. The mark is second-best of any SEC team.

Top-seeded UT will welcome 4-seed Northern Kentucky to Lindsey Nelson Stadium on Friday at 7 o’clock eastern time on the SEC Network to begin its play in the Knoxville Regional. 2-seed Southern Miss and 3-seed Indiana get going earlier in the day at 1 o’clock eastern time on ESPN+.

The Game 1 and Game 2 losers will play Saturday at 12 p.m. ET and the winners will match up at 6 p.m. ET. Game 3’s winner and Game 4’s loser play Sunday at 12 p.m. ET and the Game 4 winner plays the Game 5 winner Sunday at 6 p.m. ET. Game 7 of the regional will be played on Monday, if necessary. Television designations for Saturday and Sunday are to be determined.