The Tennessee Vols baseball team was placed in the Chapel Hill Regional as the No. 2 seed in this year’s NCAA Baseball Tournament. On Friday afternoon at noon, Tennessee will take on East Carolina to begin the first postseason game of the Josh Elander era.
Tennessee baseball’s road to Omaha just got significantly tougher after Regional reveal
In light of that, former Tennessee head coach Tony Vitello shared some encouraging words for the program as the Vols prepare to head to North Carolina for regional play.
“Just cause you’re hosting doesn’t mean you’re gonna win… Obviously (Tennessee) is capable because of their coaching staff and it’s a talented roster.”
“Just cause you’re hosting doesn’t mean you’re gonna win… Obviously (Tennessee) is capable because of their coaching staff and it’s a talented roster.”
— Jack Loder (@JackLoder_) May 26, 2026
Asked Tony Vitello how he feels about @Vol_Baseball’s chances in the Chapel Hill regional this weekend. pic.twitter.com/YnWISki8lr
Tony Vitello says the Vols have a fighting chance
Honestly, the past is the past at this point, even if things didn’t end perfectly. It’s cool seeing Tony Vitello still rooting for the Tennessee baseball team and showing respect to the coaching staff and roster he helped put together. I also really liked his point about just getting into the playoffs because once you’re in, anything can happen.
On the flip side, Josh Elander has done a really nice job in his first year taking over for Vitello. He didn’t lose a midweek nonconference game, and he is the only coach in Tennessee baseball history to win thirty games in his debut season. Now it’s up to Elander to get Tennessee out of the Chapel Hill regional, which is considered to be very tough. Pretty much every team has an amazing pitching staff, so Tennessee will have to have the bats going this weekend.
Not to mention, Vitello is correct. Just because North Carolina is hosting does not mean they have an automatic chance of moving on. Sure, it helps, but just because you’re the host doesn’t guarantee victory. In fact, only a little bit more than half of the hosts ended up moving on. The last time Tennessee wasn’t the host, they made it out of the Clemson region, so who knows what can happen. It will really come down to execution, especially with the bullpen. North Carolina is a very good team, but Tennessee can hang with them. The Vols have proved they can win big-time games, like when they took down Alabama and Texas in an SEC series.
Tegan Kuhns, Landon Mack and Evan Blanco need to be on their game because keeping the bullpen fresh and in good positions will be a big help. This doesn’t just fall on the starters, either; the offense needs to be doing its part, helping Tennessee get some early leads to take the pressure off.
Either way, Tony Vitello made a really good point that Tennessee fans should remember, as once you get into the tournament, anything can happen. All it takes is one player getting hot or one breakout performance on the big stage. Even after a rocky start to the year, the Tennessee baseball team still has a chance to shock people and make some real noise in the postseason.
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