Tennessee Vols Head Coach Tony Vitello Speaks Out on Dean Curley's Recent Struggles

Tennessee baseball head coach Tony Vitello spoke out about Dean Curley's recent field issues.

Tennessee infielder Dean Curley (1) throws the ball to first base for an out during a NCAA baseball game between Tennessee and Kentucky at Lindsey Nelson Stadium in Knoxville, Tenn., on April 18, 2025. | Angelina Alcantar/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Tennessee baseball head coach Tony Vitello spoke out about Dean Curley's recent field issues.

The Tennessee Volunteers prevailed victorious over the Alabama Crimson Tide by a final score of 15-10. The program will now face off against the Texas Longhorns in the quarterfinals, the team who was crowned regular season champions within the conference.

Despite the win, though, there was one part of the game that fans were very clearly not too happy with. Infielder Dean Curley committed a throwing error early in the game that resulted in multiple runs scoring for the Crimson Tide. According to utsports.com, Curley has committed 15 errors this season and has posted a .906 fielding percentage, which ranks 13th on the team. The next highest number of errors on the team is Ariel Antigua and Dalton Bargo, with seven each.

Head coach Tony Vitello was asked about his concerns with Curley's struggles in the field this year, and the head ball coach stood up for his veteran ball player.

"I'm plenty good with it," Vitello said. "Ride or die. For anything, on or off the field with that guy. And obviously I owe a lot. So you can talk about wallet you can talk about all kinds of other stuff. He's done a really good job for us adjusting at second, like [Andrew] Fischer has done, like hey just tell me where to play and I'll do it. Gavin [Kilen] has been similar. I think where he has really shown well there is range side to side. That was a play that was kind of a tricky one as far as the hop you get and I think because of the way he fielder it, he like he needed to get rid of it right away."

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