Tennessee has consistently been in the upper echelon of college baseball since the hiring of Tony Vitello, recently the program was ranked as the number-one team in the country for the second time under Vitello. The Volunteers have been teetering on the edge of breaking through big time in the post-season, it’s not “If” it’s when.
Tennessee’s success starts on the mound. Following the Alabama series loss when it seemed like the bullpen was bare, the pitching has improved for the Big Orange. The Vols are 25th in strikeouts per nine innings, with AJ Causey coming in 35th individually. Nate Snead is 37th in Earned Run Average with an ERA of 2.82. As a team, Tennessee’s team ERA is 77 spots higher than Wake Forrest who was the talk of the off-season for their pitching staff.
Offensively, Christian Moore has been an absolute star, coming in at 48th overall in batting average at .387 and 17th in hits at 75 total hits on 194 at-bats while Blake Burke comes in at 43rd with 71 hits on 187 at-bats. As a team Tennessee is second nationally in slugging percentage, seventh in batting average, second in total home runs, and third in home runs per game.
With conference tournaments and the NCAA regionals coming up over the horizon, Tennessee is swinging for the fences (pun intended) to bring a championship to Rocky Top.
Photo Above | USA Today
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