Tennessee
Tony Vitello is the fastest coach to reach the 300-win mark in Tennessee baseball history
Tony Vitello is the fastest coach in Tennessee baseball history to reach the 300-win mark.
The Vols coach recorded his 300th win Friday in Tennessee’s 5-1 victory against Samford. He reached the mark in 412 games, topping coach Rod Delmonico’s mark of 300 wins in 501 games. Vitello reached the 300-win mark less than two years after he reached the 200-win mark. He got win No. 200 against Gonzaga on March 4, 2023.
No. 2 Tennessee is 5-0 to start the season after Vitello entered the season with 295 wins.
Vitello is in his eighth season as the Vols coach, his first head coaching job. He was hired in June 2017 after serving as the Arkansas hitting coach.
The St. Louis native led Tennessee to its first national title in 2024. The Vols became the first team in SEC history to win 60 games when it topped Texas A&M in the three-game College World Series finals.
The Vols have three 50-win seasons under Vitello. They went 57-9 in the 2022 season after going 50-18 in the 2021 season.
Vitello was 29-27 in his first season in 2018. The Vols broke through in 2019 to go 40-21 and reach the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2005. They started the 2020 season 15-2 before the season was halted due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
They have been to the College World Series in three of the four seasons since. Tennessee reached Omaha in 2021 for its first trip under Vitello. It went back in 2023, when it was 44-22 and won a game in the CWS for the first time since 2001.
UT was the No. 1 overall seed in the 2024 NCAA Tournament. It rolled through the Knoxville Regional in three games and beat Evansville in a three-game Knoxville Super Regional to go back to Omaha. The Vols went 3-0 in the first portion of the CWS before facing Texas A&M in the finals. They lost the first game before winning the second two in the best-of-three finals to win the national title.
Tennessee also won the SEC regular-season title and the SEC Tournament title in 2024, sweeping the crowns for the second time in three seasons. It achieved the feat in 2022.
The Vols have the most wins in the country in the past five seasons with 226. They have the a national-leading .779 winning percentage in that five-year span.
Mike Wilson covers University of Tennessee athletics. Email him at michael.wilson@knoxnews.com and follow him on X @ByMikeWilson or Bluesky @bymikewilson.bsky.social. If you enjoy Mike’s coverage, consider a digital subscription that will allow you access to all of it.