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Cobbservations 006: The expectations for Tennessee baseball under Tony Vitello

Tennessee baseball coach Tony Vitello walks across the field at Lindsey Nelson Stadium during a recent scrimmage on Tennessee's campus.
Tennessee baseball coach Tony Vitello walks across the field at Lindsey Nelson Stadium during a recent scrimmage on Tennessee's campus. Tennessee baseball coach Tony Vitello walks across the field at Lindsey Nelson Stadium during a recent scrimmage on Tennessee's campus.

By David Cobb 5 min read

Analysis

Hope springs eternal on opening day, and today is not just another opening day at Tennessee.

It’s the beginning of a new era as Tony Vitello steps in to take his swing at getting Tennessee baseball back to relevance.

The Volunteers are scheduled to host Maryland at 3 p.m. today in the first of a three-game series that is almost guaranteed to be affected by bad weather. Tennessee fans hope the rain is not the harbinger of another dreary era of Vol baseball.

The program has not won an SEC Tournament game since 2007. This year, it is picked to finish last in the Eastern Division by the SEC’s coaches. The coaches also determined that UT is the only team in the league that does not have a player worthy to be on the preseason All-SEC first or second team.