Tony Vitello has announced the Tennessee baseball team’s starting lineup for the Texas opening weekend.
For Tennessee baseball’s opening weekend, Tony Vitello has decided on a starting rotation, or at least two of the three positions.
The Vols coach announced on Wednesday that the team will start junior Drew Beam against Oklahoma on Saturday and sophomore A.J. Russell against Texas Tech on Friday. The third position versus Baylor is still up for grabs. Vitello said that there are four or five pitchers competing for that position. Probably Zander Sechrist, a senior, A.J. Causey, a junior, Nate Snead, a sophomore, and Matthew Dallas and Derek Schaefer, two freshmen, make up that bunch.
In Arlington, Texas, in the Shriners Children’s Showdown, the No. 8 Vols will kick off the season.
Starting on Fridays for Tennessee is A.J. Russell, who is starting the season.
In his first season with the Vols, Russell established himself as a formidable reliever and came into his own at the end of the campaign. In 30⅓ innings pitched, he was 2-0 with a 0.89 ERA and 47 strikeouts. He made one start out of 24 appearances.
After entering the offseason with the expectation of joining the rotation, he will get the ball in the first game of the season.
Tennessee’s baseball rotation gains stability with Drew Beam in it.
Beam has relieved Vitello and pitching coach Frank Anderson at the end of the weekend by filling in as the third starter in the UT rotation. Many outlets had him listed as a preseason All-American.
“Stability is important to me,” Vitello remarked. “As Day 2 approaches, you want to have some idea of what to expect. Furthermore, he is open to receiving the ball in any capacity and in any manner, form, or context you desire during the entire year.”
In 2023, the native of Murfreesboro finished 9-4 with a 3.63 ERA. As a rookie, he seized the Sunday starting position, seizing the first chance and never letting it go. As a freshman in 2022, he had an 8-1 record and a 2.72 ERA. In 160⅓ innings, Beam has walked 44 times.
Concerning the third starting place, Tony Vitello has choices.
UT has choices after Russell and Beam, but the starting pitcher for the first two games will probably determine who gets the start.
The weekend rotation’s returning option is Sechrist. In 48 career appearances, including 23 starts as a midweek starter, he is 6-1 with a 1.95 ERA.
Snead, a hard-throwing transfer from Wichita State, finished his rookie season 1-2 with a 3.16 ERA. Causey, a submariner and transfer from Jacksonville State, has spent his first two seasons starting and pitching out of the bullpen. Last season, he had a 5.07 ERA and a 5-4 record. Among the highly anticipated pitching prospects in the freshmen class were Schaefer and Dallas.
Vitello remarked, “We want to get a bunch of guys out of the bullpen for their first Vol uniform.” “We want to improve and have a positive experience this weekend. It would improve everyone and make us all happy if a guy could just go out there, put on a Vol uniform for the first time, and compete.
