Tennessee Baseball Coach Tony Vitello Shares Pitching Rotation Update

The Tennessee Volunteers are days away from their first regional game in the Knoxville regional following their loss to Vanderbilt in the SEC Tournament semi-finals.

Tennessee assistant coach Ross Kivett leads Tennessee baseball head coach Tony Vitello back to the dugout after speaking with the umpire during a NCAA baseball game between the Tennessee Volunteers and Vanderbilt Commodores at Lindsey Nelson Stadium on May 11, 2025. | Angelina Alcantar/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Tennessee Volunteers are days away from their first regional game in the Knoxville regional following their loss to Vanderbilt in the SEC Tournament semi-finals.

The Tennessee Volunteers are set to host a regional knockout tournament this weekend, as they will take on Miami (OH) in the first game. They will be joined by Wake Forest and Cincinnati in this regional to make for one of the tougher regional tournaments of the round.

With post-season action comes changes to the lineup and the pitching rotation for many teams, but will Tony Vitello make some changes to his rotation? As of now, the Vols' head coach seems to be leaning towards Doyle getting the start on Friday following two tough starts on the mound.

"Yeah, more than likely. We got some bullpens today, so we’ll see how those go and then have conversations, but that’s kind of been the order that held true through the season until we had schedule quirks there with the Thursday series and the tournament," Vitello stated.

There was a lot of noise regarding Liam Doyle's inability to maintain velocity deep into starts, but the gap has closed as the season has progressed.

Over his past three outings, Doyle has averaged 97.0 MPH (T98.6) on his fastball from pitch No. 60 onward. pic.twitter.com/vLSoujJMth

— Kareem (@KareemSSN) May 25, 2025

This isn't a method of having a better strategy than the opponents, Vitello confirms in another statement. His goal is to outshine the other teams and come out victorious in the end.

Many could argue that the Vols are at their best when Doyle is on the mound, and the SEC Pitcher of the Year award can back up that claim. Doyle currently has a record of 9-3 while holding a steady ERA of 3.04. He also has 142 strikeouts in 83.0 innings pitched.

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