Top 5 Postseason Moments Of The Tony Vitello Era
By Cody McClure
A new season begins today.
The Tennessee Volunteers will embark on a quest to reach the pinnacle of college baseball for a second consecutive season.
Is this team national-championship-good?
It hasn’t really seemed like it most of the year, but we’re getting ready to find out when it truly matters as the Vols host a home regional in the NCAA Tournament.
Tennessee will face Miami (Ohio) tonight at 6 p.m. ET in the Knoxville Regional. The game is on ESPNU.
Tonight’s winner will face either Wake Forest or Cincinnati tomorrow evening. Those teams play at Lindsey Nelson Stadium today at 1 p.m. ET.
If Tennessee manages to win three games this weekend it will advance to a Super Regional for the fifth consecutive season.
And if the Vols win that, they’ll go to the College World Series in Omaha for the fourth time in five years.
It goes without saying — there has been a lot of postseason baseball success in Knoxville this decade.
Let’s take a look at some of the biggest moments:
5. Tennessee defeats Clemson (and goes on to win regional) in extra innings — 2023
It took all damn day to do it, but Tennessee got it done 6-5. The Vols defeated the regional host in 14 innings to claim their second victory of the weekend. Zane Denton had the moment of the day with a three-run bomb that put Tennessee up 5-4 in the ninth inning before Clemson was able to tie things up. The Vols’ win — which was clinched by a Hunter Ensley double to right center allowing Maui Ahuna to reach home plate — ultimately helped propel UT through the weekend and reach the supers.
4. Drew Gilbert’s grand slam lifts Vols past Wright State — 2021
You would be hard-pressed to find a bigger moment in such a dire situation. Tennessee won the game 9-8 but going into the ninth inning, this one appeared to be all but wrapped up for the underdog Raiders. After a three-run seventh inning, Wright State had managed to piece together an 8-5 lead. The upset was on. Tennessee’s season was about to be spoiled. But then Gilbert said to the God of Death… not today. He struck one into oblivion with the bases loaded and one out. A walk-off grand slam. Something every baseball player dreams of.
3. Tennessee reaches Omaha for first time in 16 years — 2021
The Vols slayed the dragon by knocking out LSU — the SEC’s all-time best baseball program — and retired, at least for a while, legendary coach Paul Mainieri. There wasn’t one particular defining moment of this Super Regional, but to beat LSU for a trip back to Omaha was Tony Vitello’s crowning achievement at this time in his career. The Vols hadn’t been to the College World Series in over a decade-and-a-half before this series win. Tennessee taking the supers with a pair of victories, 4-2 and 15-6, was an announcement to the rest of the league that the Vols were here to stay.
2. Did he swing, or did he not swing? That is the question — 2024
In a game cloaked with controversy, Tennessee outdueled Florida State 12-11. The Seminoles were one strike away TWICE from beating Tennessee and advancing last season in the College World Series. The Vols ultimately, however, put up four runs in the bottom of the ninth inning to win in clutch fashion. The controversy stemmed from a close checked swing by Blake Burke on what would have been a third strike giving the ‘Noles the win. FSU fans still say he swung, but ultimately all that matters is whose name got written down in the win column. The Vols’ win led to moment No. 1 on this list. Can you guess it?
1. The National Champion is clad in Big Orange — 2024
A natty… Something a men’s team at Tennessee hadn’t achieved since the magical 1998 football season. The Lady Vols won back-to-back basketball titles in 2007-08 but it seemed as if it had been forever since the “Male” Vols won a meaningful title. Last year’s national championship felt like a culmination of department-wide athletics success since Danny White took over as AD at UT. Basketball and football had been good, too, but Tennessee Athletics needed some real hardware. Vitello brought it. Of course, it wasn’t going to be easy. It was going to be an absolute nerve-wracking hell ride up until the final strikeout. But eventually, that strikeout came: