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Tony Vitello breaks down Tennessee’s pitching approach during SEC Tournament
By Sydney Hunte
Published:
Tony Vitello and Tennessee haven’t had the quite same success they had during their 2024 College World Series run, when they won the SEC Tournament before topping Texas A&M in three games to win the program’s first national championship.
Despite a 16-14 SEC mark in 2025 and entering this edition of the tournament as the No. 8 seed, the aim is still to get to Omaha. That starts with pitching.
Vitello on Tuesday revealed that Marcus Phillips (3-4, 1.26 ERA) is likely to take the mound on Wednesday for the Volunteers. Regardless of who starts, Vitello is looking to be mindful of not tiring his pitchers out.
“We are looking to win,” the Vols head coach said, according to the Knoxville News’ Mike Wilson. “That will be the pursuit we are on, but are also not looking to go crazy with pitch count particularly for the guys who are on short rest.”
The Vols’ other primary starter, Liam Doyle, is 9-3 with a 2.72 ERA and a conference-high 137 strikeouts. Tennessee’s staff ERA of 3.80 is 3rd-best in the SEC.
“We will kind of try and throw the kitchen sink at them. In what order, we hadn’t discussed,” Vitello said.
Tennessee will face 9th-seeded Alabama at 10:30 a.m. ET on Monday. The Crimson Tide defeated 16th-seeded Mizzou 4-1 on Tuesday.
Sydney is an Atlanta-based journalist who has covered everything from SEC and ACC football to MLS, the U.S. men's national soccer team and professional tennis. His work has appeared on such platforms as SB Nation, Cox Media Group and FanSided.
