It’s hard to imagine a team that has created a more stress-free week than Tennessee’s top-ranked baseball program.
The Volunteers host Belmont on Tuesday and play Thursday through Saturday at Mississippi State having already wrapped up their first Southeastern Conference regular-season championship since 1995. Taking things further, the Vols (45-7, 22-5 SEC) could lose all four games this week and go two-and-out at next week’s league tournament in Hoover, Alabama, and still be assured of hosting an NCAA regional and an NCAA super regional provided they advance.
Yet even the mention of the postseason can bring unwanted tension, which Tennessee fifth-year coach Tony Vitello believes is natural and therefore unavoidable in the days and weeks ahead.
“This time of year, guys are going to get a little too tense and maybe make a mistake,” Vitello said after Saturday afternoon’s 8-3 loss to Georgia in Tennessee’s SEC home finale. “We’ve all been to a little league park where parents love their kids, and everybody should be having fun and having a hot dog and a beer, but it’s the most insane, intense environment ever, and possible fights break out and stuff like that.
“That sort of tension is in the air because playoff time is creeping up, and that’s what all of these guys on all these teams need to be cautious of. It will pop up, and they can be good feelings to have, but you have to keep them in check and then just play ball.”