In a historic season, the Tennessee baseball team won its first national championship under head coach Tony Vitello. This marked a milestone for the program and a record-breaking 60 victories in the 2024 season. The Volunteers also captured both the SEC regular season and tournament titles, becoming the first SEC team to reach the 60-win mark and just the fourth conference team to win all three major postseason titles in the same year.
Vitello’s leadership was instrumental in this achievement, as he has been recognized as one of the nation’s top college baseball coaches in other organizations. This is his first national coach of the year award from the ABCA, but he has previously been named the ABCA Southeast Region Coach of the Year three times in the last four years.
Tennessee’s victory also broke a trend of No. 1 national seeds falling short in postseason play, as they became just the second No. 1 overall seed to win the MCWS since 1999. Under Vitello’s guidance, Tennessee has made three trips to Omaha in four seasons, won four combined SEC championships, and three SEC eastern division titles with a winning percentage ranking No. 1 nationally.