Tony Vitello has completely transformed Tennessee’s baseball program. When he was hired in 2019, he inherited one of the worst programs on campus and has turned it into a national powerhouse.
Tennessee’s dominance on the diamond continues this year as Vitello has led the Vols to set another mark for the 2025 season.
The Vols have three players who have been named Baseball America first-team All-Americans: Gavin Kilen, Andrew Fischer, and Liam Doyle. Fischer and Doyle have also been named first-team All-Americans by ABCA, Baseball America, NCBWA, and Perfect Game.
Tennessee’s three first-team All-Americans set the mark for most first-team All-Americans of any program in the country this year.
Doyle, also named SEC Pitcher of the Year, finished the year as the Vols’ ace with a 10-4 record and 3.20 ERA. More times than not, he set up Tennessee to win their weekend series this year with a strong Friday night performance. He was also the first to step up and volunteer to pitch for the Vols in the Knoxville Regional when they needed a pitcher to shut down the Wake Forest offense.
Fischer put together a great season at the plate, and one of the best in program history, according to UTSports.com, leading the team in Vols in OPS (1.257), runs (70), home runs (25), RBIs (65), total bases (165), slugging percentage (.760), on-base percentage (.497) and walks (63).
Kilen missed 12 games due to injury this year but was still one of Tennessee’s top producers. He led the team with a .357 batting average and four triples. Kilen also ranked second on the team in OPS (1.112), homers (15), total bases (141), and slugging percentage (.671)
All three players will be top MLB Draft prospects in this year’s draft and could become another trio of Vitello’s players that make it to the MLB in the next few years.
Hunter Ensley is the only other Vol who has received All-American honors as a second-team ABCA All-American in his final season on Rocky Top.
Tennessee finished the year with a 46-19 record this season. They struggled down the stretch in SEC competition but still battled to appear in the Super Regional round before being eliminated by Arkansas.