Tony Vitello breaks down the good, bad from Tennessee pitching in SEC Tournament opener

Tennessee fell in its first game of the SEC Tournament to Vanderbilt and head coach Tony Vitello took a hard look at the pitching.

The Volunteers used a good amount of arms to get looks in the 13-4 loss. Despite the blowout, Vitello saw some positives.

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Heck, it might give them options when playing Texas A&M Thursday.

“Again guys getting out there was huge,” Vitello said . “You know, I think (Andrew) Behnke gets gets us out of a jam. I think he’s capable of doing that. Kirby (Connell) has kind of been that guy for us. There’s obvious positives and AJ (Russell). Again, the fact that at least Nate (Snead) has done that and he got his work in, it was a light weekend for him.

“I don’t know where he’s at appearance wise or innings wise, but he’s carried a lot of the weight at the very least his win loss record. He’s got 10 decisions one way or the other and some saves. So last weekend was light, he got his work in regardless of how the rest of this tournament goes.”

Snead got the start and went 2.2 innings, gave up five hits, five earned runs, issued one walk and had two strikeouts. Connell and Russell were the two pitchers to go through an inning unscathed.

Russell returned from injury and tossed a scoreless sixth inning to highlight the middle of the game. The positive from Connell was him extending his scoreless appearances streak to nine. He did not allow a hit Wednesday and hasn’t given up a run since April 21st at Kentucky .

Vitello wanted information and that’s what he got from the rest of the guys. Since Tennessee is still alive, it was all good for evaluation.

“And then the rest of those guys just gave us information,” Vitello said. “I mean, I trust (Dylan) Loy when we use him in the situation that’s best for him. But I’m willing to bet you know those first year guys had a little bit of a wild moment, like even AJ. He had a different story, but, you know, he had to manage his breath there a little bit. It’s good those guys get to experience that so there’s not a shock the next time it comes around.”

Vitello and Tennessee play Texas A&M Thursday at approximately 2 p.m. ET.

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