Vols baseball coach Tony Vitello reveals that teams in the SEC are complaining about the most ridiculous thing about Tennessee
SEC baseball programs apparently don't have enough to complain about these days. So they're choosing to whine about something the Tennessee Vols have been doing this season that's completely harmless. Vols baseball coach Tony Vitello revealed on Tuesday evening after Tennessee's 9-4 win against Belmont that there are teams in the SEC that have been […]
SEC baseball programs apparently don't have enough to complain about these days.
So they're choosing to whine about something the Tennessee Vols have been doing this season that's completely harmless.
Vols baseball coach Tony Vitello revealed on Tuesday evening after Tennessee's 9-4 win against Belmont that there are teams in the SEC that have been complaining about infielder Alberto Osuna taking pre-game defensive reps.
Osuna, a North Carolina transfer who joined the UT baseball program before the start of the season, hasn't been allowed to play this season because the NCAA has refused to grant him a waiver (Osuna was seeking another year of eligibility à la Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia).
"Alberto is a senior, too," said Vitello while discussing Tennessee's senior night (which was on Tuesday). "I don’t know what his future holds or how that will go down next year. We’ve tried to get creative and do something with him, but it wasn’t going to work within the rules. My idea, people probably would have lost their minds. I mean, I found out last night at dinner that there’s been teams in our league complaining he takes in and out with us. Which I can’t even really fathom or comprehend that statement."
It's bad enough that Osuna hasn't been allowed to play this season — the NCAA has essentially robbed him of a year of playing baseball just because they can. But teams complaining that he's getting in some pre-game reps with Tennessee is completely absurd. That's not something that's giving the Vols any sort of competitive advantage. Again, it's completely harmless.
Vitello didn't name the programs that have been complaining about Osuna, but it's worth noting that Tennessee has previously dealt with pettiness from SEC programs during the Vitello era. In 2022, for example, Vanderbilt had outfielder Jordan Beck's bat checked after a home run. Beck's home run was turned into an out after it was determined that his bat didn't have the appropriate sticker on it.
Tony Vitello tells everyone exactly why Tennessee Vols baseball is struggling, and it can be fixed in less than five minutes
But that doesn’t mean it will be
