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Jun 03, 2023

Vols riding different 'vibe' through postseason

Tony Vitello can sense it. Griffin Merritt can, too though he wasn’t on the

Tony Vitello can sense it.

Griffin Merritt can, too though he wasn't on the team a year ago.

For the Tennessee players that had their dream season end one game short of a second-straight College World Series appearance last season, the postseason has been viewed as unfinished business.

It started last Saturday when the Vols dispatched their toughest road block to get out of the Clemson Regional in the Clemson Tigers, outlasting them in a 14-inning thriller before cruising past Charlotte for the second time in three days to put Tennessee in a Super Regional for a third consecutive season.

"Yeah, a little bit of ‘let's do this’ type of phrase or anything that would fall under that umbrella," Vitello said. "Maybe a little extra sense of determination, but again, I think this team had kind of formulated its own personality which has started to come out a little bit more...Just kind of that same theme of let's keep getting stronger in any area that we can and that starts as an individual.

"Let your personality come out, maybe get better in an area earlier in the year that you’re struggling with. And then as a a team, keep pushing forward to try and find our best baseball."

Following perhaps the greatest regular season in school history, which included several weeks as the No. 1 team in the country and an SEC regular season title that was followed up with a conference tournament crown with veteran-laden roster, Tennessee seemed poised to reach Omaha.

Instead, the Vols lost two out of three games to Notre Dame on their home turf in the Super Regional.

Though this season had its share of rough stretches that included four SEC road series losses and an early exit at the SEC Tournament in Hoover, Alabama last month, Tennessee has seemingly saved its baseball for where it is now.

"I think last year the expectation wasn't to end where the season ended," Merritt, who transferred from Cincinnati, said. "I definitely think that fuels some guys from last year. I think that's part of the reason some of the guy's from last year's team came back, some of the older guys. I think the vibe around the team has been totally different since after the SEC Tournament and the big postseason started. It's just different."

That approach has Tennessee (41-19) on the cusp the CWS again but it will have to punch its ticket on the road, this time.

The Vols, which missed out on hosting Supers to Southern Miss, have to beat the Golden Eagles (45-18) twice at Pete Taylor Park in Hattiesburg, Mississippi this weekend.

Southern Miss lost its opening game of the Auburn Regional and then ran the table, winning three games in two days and though Tennessee had an argument for playing this season-defining series at Lindsey Nelson Stadium, Vitello looks at the setting as a parallel to the Vols' path to get to this point and the personality they've adopted.

"You get to this time of year and we’ve seen it whether it be at Lindsey Nelson Stadium, or this last weekend...No one is not going to be pouring their heart and soul out on to the field," Vitello said. "You can come up with whatever set of circumstances you want. For coaches, players, fan bases. Everyone is going to give it their best go. It is a baseball game, so there's a lot of crazy things that can happen. Really, whatever competitive edge you’re looking for, it's got to be based off of what your team has become throughout the year and there were teams last year that served as good examples for us now of, maybe the quickest path or the best path from point A to point B isn't a straight line. And for us, there's no way it's been a straight line...Our zig-zag path, ups and downs, rollercoaster, whatever it's been throughout this year — it's who we are, so stay true to who we are.

"And who we are is a group of guys who are pretty capable when we’re playing our best or close to it. Throwing out the word best is ironic because I don't think we’ve necessarily found that yet, especially over the course of a complete weekend."

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