Inside the daring decision that altered Tennessee baseball's season toward Clemson Regional

Andrew Lindsey pranced off the mound toward the Tennessee baseball dugout, revealing no sign of his rapidly approaching boiling point.

The pitcher adjusted his hat and high-fived his teammates before entering the dugout, where his composed posture unraveled into screaming.

"I guess I scared a couple people in the dugout," Lindsey said. “I didn’t feel like we were playing to our potential. I know a lot of the other guys felt the same way."

Tennessee was at its gloomiest place, trailing Florida 9-2 in the sixth inning on April 7 when Lindsey’s outburst supplied a gleaming beam of hope that coach Tony Vitello latched onto.

“It was that light bulb moment,” Vitello said.

Days later, Vitello made the move that proved to be the inflection point of Tennessee’s season and one of the best, most daring coaching decisions of his career. He rearranged the pitching rotation, placing Lindsey at the front, and setting a course firmly toward the NCAA Tournament after a sputtering start to a highly anticipated season.

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Why Tennessee baseball had to make a change

Tennessee’s rotation was the envy of the college baseball world in February. The Vols returned their starting trio of Chase Dollander, Chase Burns, and Drew Beam after a record-setting 2022 season.

Little went as expected, as the pitching faltered alongside UT's sporadic hitting and fielding woes.

Dollander wasn't precise. Burns was hit hard. Beam was the best of the bunch. Vitello and pitching coach Frank Anderson discussed making a change. They thought about shuffling the order. But the starters felt good about their spots and wanted a chance to throw better.

It reached a point of no return against Florida. The Vols were 21-10, but only 4-7 in the SEC on April 7.

“You can’t just sit still,” Vitello said. “If things aren’t going well, I would rather not sit still and say life will work itself out.”

Dollander had a pedestrian outing on April 6. Burns was demolished a day later. Burns’ ERA ballooned to 6.10 after he was was tagged for seven runs in 3⅓ innings by the Gators. He exited after allowing back-to-back homers.

Vitello was asked afterward what it would take for someone else to get an opportunity to start on the weekend. He said it would take what he saw against Florida. He added it was a “question for down the road.”

But the conversations had been ongoing, a slow process that had reached its tipping point. Vitello went to Anderson in the coaches’ locker room with his thoughts. Anderson was on board.

Lindsey had made his impression loudly in the dugout that same day and it stuck with Vitello.

Tony Vitello had three decisions to make to fix the pitching rotation

Evan Russell set Tennessee on a trajectory toward its current standing in 2018 when the Vols opened SEC play at Ole Miss. The outfielder burst from the bench ready to defend first baseman Pete Derkay when Rebels outfielder Thomas Dillard ran over Derkay in the finale.

Vitello saw a similar fire in Lindsey against Florida.

“He showed the emotion and the passion we were looking for out of our entire team,” Vitello said.

Tennessee had three candidates to insert into the rotation: Lindsey, Seth Halvorsen and Camden Sewell.

The Vols envisioned Lindsey, a transfer from Charlotte who sat out the 2022 season for personal reasons, as a closer. But they rarely had save opportunities. Sewell battled preseason arm soreness, leaving him less likely to start — plus he excels at getting UT out of jams. Halvorsen could start but the Vols coveted his shutdown ability in the bullpen.

Lindsey was the choice for his combination of starting experience at Charlotte, his repertoire of pitches, and his grit.

“The team gained a little bit of an edge,” Dollander said.

Tennessee had two more decisions to make — how to order of the rotation and, most notably, who would be bumped. The latter came first. Beam has been largely reliable as a Game 3 starter for two seasons, which kept his place secure.

Vitello faced the unenviable choice between his potential first-round pitchers in Burns and Dollander. He opted for Dollander, the junior and the pitcher who appeared to be on the upswing in the middle of the season after a slow start.

That pushed Burns and his dynamic arsenal to the bullpen, where he could be used as a big-armed weapon.

Vitello tabbed Lindsey as the Game 1 starter, moving Dollander back to the Game 2 role in which he excelled as a sophomore.

“Whatever the team needs is whatever the team needs,” Dollander said. "Having Lindsey on the Friday night and putting me back on Saturdays, it was an unexpected turn of events. I embraced it with as much gratitude as I can.”

Vitello had one-on-one meetings with each of the involved parties, managing a delicate situation and making a move full of moxie. Burns’ struggles were puzzling and all sides agreed a reset by moving to the bullpen could be valuable. The ever-affable Dollander took the move in stride.

“It shows they trust their gut,” Dollander said. "Whatever they are feeling is what they are going to do.”

Tony Vitello made the perfect moves with Tennessee's staff

Vitello knew he’d made the right decision immediately — even if the Vols were swept at Arkansas following the shuffle.

“What happened for us was Lindsey going out there and showing us what he was really capable of and doing exactly what we knew he could do the whole time,” outfielder Jared Dickey said. “It kind of changed the way we looked at things on the weekend.”

Lindsey turned in a tone-setting, season-shifting start against Vanderbilt on April 21, striking out 10 in 6.2 innings. It started a run in which Tennessee went 11-4, sweeping Vanderbilt and taking series against Mississippi State, Kentucky and South Carolina.

The Vols (38-19) went from a potentially murky NCAA Tournament situation to a No. 2 seed in the Clemson Regional, which they open against No. 3 Charlotte (34-26) on Friday (6 p.m. ET, ESPNU).

Lindsey (2-2, 2.54 ERA) has delivered time and time again in the top spot, turning in three quality starts in his past five. He dazzled at South Carolina, hurling 8.1 innings of shutout baseball with five strikeouts in the best start for the Vols this season. He set down the final 17 batters he faced.

Dollander (6-6, 4.28 ERA) has been excellent in four of five starts, the lone exception an illness-dampened outing against Mississippi State. Beam (7-4, 4.18 ERA) was lights out in three of his final five starts.

Burns became lighter fluid to an already sturdy bullpen. He showed off against Vanderbilt with seven strikeouts in three innings, one of his five fantastic relief appearances. Vitello lauded the way Burns has “wrapped himself full into that role.”

"I feel like it probably the closest thing to pro (staff) as you can get," Lindsey said.

Lindsey humbly dismissed the idea the season turned with the pitching pivot, of which he was the fulcrum. He thinks the Vols were primed for a late-season run regardless. Maybe the pitching changes allowed the team to settle in, he admitted. Maybe it set a tone, but only in a small way.

Maybe a newcomer erupted with pointed passion at the most opportune time. Maybe a coach tight-roped a move more complicated than it appeared.

Maybe it was everything the Vols needed.

Mike Wilson covers University of Tennessee athletics. Email him at michael.wilson@knoxnews.com and follow him on Twitter @ByMikeWilson. If you enjoy Mike’s coverage, consider a digital subscription that will allow you access to all of it.

This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Inside Tony Vitello's decision that altered Tennessee baseball's season