FAYETTEVILLE -- Tony Vitello will be back in Baum-Walker Stadium this weekend, but in a different spot than University of Arkansas fans were used to seeing him.
Instead of standing in the third-base coaching box when the the Razorbacks are batting, Vitello will be leading the team in the visiting dugout.
Today’s game
No. 18 Tennessee at No. 7 Arkansas
WHEN 6:30 p.m.
WHERE Baum-Walker Stadium, Fayetteville.
RECORDS Arkansas 31-11, 12-6 SEC; Tennessee 31-11, 9-9
SERIES Arkansas leads 33-27.
STARTING PITCHERS Tennessee: LHP Garrett Crochet (3-2, 2.45 ERA); Arkansas: RHP Isaiah Campbell (7-1, 2.44)
RADIO Razorback Sports Network
TV None
INTERNET SEC Network-Plus
THE WEEK AHEAD
TODAY vs. Tennessee*, 6:30 p.m.
SATURDAY vs. Tennessee*, 6:30 p.m.
SUNDAY vs. Tennessee*, 4 p.m.
MONDAY Off
TUESDAY vs. Grambling State^, 6:30 p.m.
WEDNESDAY Off
THURSDAY Off
*SEC game
^Dickey-Stephens Park, North Little Rock
Vitello, 40, is in his second season as the head coach at No. 18 Tennessee (31-11, 9-9 SEC), which opens a three-game series against No. 7 Arkansas (31-11, 12-6) at 6:30 tonight.
It's the first game at Baum-Walker Stadium for Vitello since he was an Arkansas assistant coach for four seasons from 2014-17.
"My emotions are going to need to be kept in check, that's for sure," Vitello said. "Because a lot of my heart is still in Fayetteville."
Vitello recruited some of Arkansas' current players.
"He's a really good dude," said junior Isaiah Campbell, the Razorbacks' starting pitcher tonight. "I have all the respect for him and what's he's brought to Tennessee. I know he's going to be pumped up and excited to come back and play us."
Vitello also was an assistant coach at Missouri and TCU, but said his time with Arkansas Coach Dave Van Horn helped prepare him for the challenges of being an SEC head coach.
"I feel like Coach Van Horn has done everything for me," Vitello said. "I would say he elevated me as a coach.
"I learned a lot from listening to him and just watching how he did things, and he also told me things and corrected me on some things that have really stuck with me.
"Being at Arkansas for four years with Coach Van Horn was like being in a baseball classroom setting. In the SEC, there's nothing that's new or uncharted territory for me because I was able to be a part of his program at Arkansas."
Van Horn praised the job Vitello has done at Tennessee, but said he's approaching this weekend as another SEC series.
"Once the game starts, it's all about how the Razorbacks play," Van Horn said. "It doesn't matter who's sitting in the other dugout."
The Vols were 27-26 overall and 7-21 in 2017 in Dave Serrano's final season as coach, then went 29-27 and 12-18 in Vitello's first season. Now Vitello has Tennessee positioned to make the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2005.
"We inherited some nice pieces and we've been fortunate enough to land a great coaching staff and some good recruits early," Vitello said. "We're just trying to get every category of the program as good as possible as fast as possible."
Vitello said his biggest move was hiring Frank Anderson from the University of Houston to be the Vols' pitching coach. Anderson previously was a head coach at Oklahoma State.
"I feel like we have the best pitching coach in the conference," Vitello said.
Tennessee's pitching staff leads the nation with a 2.68 earned run average and nine shutouts.
The Vols' rotation this weekend will be Garrett Crochet (3-2, 2.45 ERA), Garrett Stallings (7-2, 1.82 ERA) and Zach Linginfelter (6-4, 3.91 ERA). Redmond Walsh has seven saves and a 0.35 ERA.
"It's a staff with a lot of depth and lot of options," Vitello said.
Tennessee started 17-1 -- including a three-game sweep of Indiana and taking 2 of 3 games from Fresno State -- but opened SEC play by losing three games at Auburn.
"It was tough," Vitello said. "We knew then as a coaching staff we'd find out what we had in our ballclub by how our guys reacted the next week."
The Vols reacted by taking 2 of 3 games from South Carolina to start what's been a 9-6 stretch in SEC play. They also won 2 of 3 games against overall SEC leader Georgia.
"I think the big thing was there was not any panic or anyone saying, 'Here we go again,' " Vitello said. "The guys just kept it simple and were anxious for a chance to answer back."
Vitello said he's been so busy building up Tennessee's program that he hasn't had time to shave. After being clean-shaven when he took the job, Vitello now has a full beard.
"I thought about shaving, because I'm giving Hognoxious some material to work with this weekend," Vitello said, referring to Arkansas fan Bobby Smittle and his reputation of heckling opponents. "I've got way too much hair on my face, but it was just one of those things where earlier this year I said, 'Well, I'm going to stay warm for a while.'
"Then the weather has been so bad this spring everywhere I didn't want to lose the beard.
"Lately it's been, 'Oh, the heck with it. I'm just going to leave it as is and worry about how I look when the season's over.'"
The way Vitello has the Vols playing, that might be a while.
Sports on 04/26/2019