Tennessee Baseball Skipper Tony Vitello Puts On Performance That Leads To Ejection During Auburn Series

KNOXVILLE, TN - Tennessee baseball coach Tony Vitello definitely put on a show for the fans in attendance on Sunday afternoon in Knoxville, as the Vols finished their three-game series against Auburn. 

For the first time since March 19, 2023, and for the fifth time in his career, Vitello got an early jump on the showers. All of this stemmed from an interesting few days for the umpire crew, who were certainly not consistent with their strike zone.

Now, this has been the case with college baseball in the SEC from the start of conference play, but Sunday was a tipping point for the Tennessee head coach. 

During the fifth inning, Tennessee pitcher Brayden Krenzel walked in a run, which came right after the first base umpire missed what looked like an easy check-swing call. This sent Vitello into a full rage. 

The Vols coach decided to make a trip around the infield, making sure each umpire heard what he had to say about what he thought had been an inconsistent weekend. Vitello started with home-plate umpire John Brammer, then made his way over to third-base umpire Javerro January, before finally stopping at second-base umpire Ben Levin. 

It should be noted that Auburn was leading 6-0 when Tony Vitello decided to come at the umpires, which came after a bases-loaded walk. 

Where The Frustration Started For Tennessee's Tony Vitello

The frustration for the Tennessee head coach started Friday night, when he decided to start the game in what was seemingly a tropical storm. After Tennessee pitcher Liam Doyle finished up his time on the mound in the first inning, giving up a 2-run homer, Auburn coach Butch Thompson challenged the field conditions, which is when the umpires decided to delay the game. 

According to SEC rules, this falls on the home team. 

"The home institution's Athletics Director (or his/her deisgnee) shall have the authority to determine whether a contest should, prior to its start, be temporarily delayed until a later time on the same date or another time on another date within the scheduled series. Once a contest has started, the decision to suspend play is the responsibility of the umpires." 

So yes, it falls on Tennessee for starting the game, according to the rules. That is when Auburn head coach Butch Thompson decided to nudge the umpires a bit to delay the contest. Tennessee ended up losing the first game on Saturday, then they won the second game, but Auburn won the series by dominating the Vols on Sunday afternoon in a 7-inning game. 

As for Vitello, I'm sure we will hear the reasoning for him going off on the umpire crew, but it doesn’t take an expert to figure out why he was upset. 

Get ready, we are certainly on the ‘Road To Omaha’ for the college world series.