Baseball Vols avoid sweep, give Tony Vitello first win as head coach

Tennessee catcher Benito Santiago motions toward the Tennessee dugout after reaching base in Tennessee's 2018 season opener against Maryland at Lindsey Nelson Stadium.
Tennessee catcher Benito Santiago motions toward the Tennessee dugout after reaching base in Tennessee's 2018 season opener against Maryland at Lindsey Nelson Stadium.

KNOXVILLE - There were freshmen getting their first college playing experience, spots in the batting order up for grabs and questions about the pitching rotation.

Entering the first regular-season weekend of his head coaching career, Tony Vitello had plenty of on-field dynamics to think about as Tennessee hosted Maryland in a three-game series at Lindsey Nelson Stadium.

What had Vitello most curious, though, was not how freshman Wyatt Stapp would do at third base or if Andre Lipcius' transition from first baseman to shortstop would translate under the lights.

Before the series, Vitello said he was most anxious to see how the Volunteers would respond to adversity.

After sweep-minded Maryland scored three runs in the first inning of the series finale Sunday, the question got an answer. The Vols roared back for 10 runs over the next two innings, and starting pitcher Will Neely overcame a woeful first inning as Tennessee won 13-6.

"I think they showed some resiliency there," Vitello said.

As he walked off the field, lingering fans yelled their congratulations to the 39-year-old former Arkansas assistant.

"It feels good to have it out of the way," Vitello said. "You'd like to kind of get all the funny business out the way, which we did this weekend, and just play ball and focus on the things you need to get better at. This weekend showed plenty of things we do need to get better at."

Maryland (2-1) beat Tennessee (1-2) 4-0 Friday night and Saturday's game was rained out, forcing a Sunday double-header. Tennessee held a 4-2 lead after seven innings of Sunday's first game before the Terrapins exploded for eight runs in the last two innings and won 10-4.

Then Maryland's Marty Costes and Nick Dunn each homered in the first inning of the series finale. Tennessee struck back with five runs in the bottom half and five more in the second, when Lipcius hit a grand slam.

Benito Santiago and Jay Charleston also homered as the Vols pounded out 16 hits in the series finale.

"It just shows that we can overcome anything, because our bats can do a lot of things," Lipcius said. "We can score really quick and it just showed in that last game."

After giving up three runs and allowing another baserunner before recording his first out, Neely (1-0) zoned in on the mound and pitched five innings. The Terrapins scored twice in the fifth to cut the lead to 12-5 as activity began to pick up in Tennessee's bullpen. But Neely, who battled the flu during the preseason, made it through the inning by retiring Costes.

"We need better out of him if he's going to be a weekend starter," Vitello said. "But for him to give us five (innings) was huge."

Vitello said Neely showed "a little bit of resiliency."

Just like the team that found itself on the brink of being swept before responding to the adversity with its bats to salvage some momentum from opening weekend.

"There were some positives to come out of it," Vitello said. "But the standard for us that we want is when we're at home, we win series. Quite frankly, when you're on the road, too, you've got to win some series. That's what determines whether it was a good weekend or not. But the third game of the series is usually the one that kind of determines how you feel getting back on the bus or in the shower at home.

"So at the very least, we have that good feeling after this game."

Contact David Cobb at dcobb@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @DavidWCobb and on Facebook at facebook.com/volsupdate.

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