Tennessee baseball is three days away from opening up its 2025 season with a weekend series against Hofstra at Lindsey Nelson Stadium.
Eighth-year head coach Tony Vitello has two-thirds of his starting pitching plan figured out for the opening weekend series. Ole Miss transfer Liam Doyle will start for Tennessee in Friday night’s season opener while junior Marcus Phillips will start on Saturday, Vitello revealed during a Tuesday press conference.
“Liam [Doyle] will start on Friday and then Marcus Phillips will start on Saturday,” Vitello said. “We will not announce our Sunday starter – kind of how we’ve done it.”
Doyle was the favorite to be Tennessee’s Friday night starter after having a dominant offseason after transferring from Ole Miss back in July. The left-handed pitcher was the Rebels’ Saturday starter last season where he posted a 3-4 record, 5.73 ERA and 1.25 WHIP last season.
The left-handed junior has high-level stuff and struck out 84 batters while walking 21 in 55 innings pitched last season.
While Doyle starting the season-opener is no surprise, Vitello and his staff turning to right-hander Marcus Phillips on Saturday would have been surprising at the conclusion of fall practice.
A 6-foot-4, 246-pound former junior college standout, Phillips has an upper-90s fastball and a sweeper that plays well off of it. The talent has never been the question for Phillips. It was inconsistency and command that kept Phillips from earning a larger role during the 2024 season.
More From RTI: Everything Tony Vitello Said Ahead Of Tennessee Baseball’s 2025 Season Opener
Phillips made 19 appearances and threw 20 innings last season, posting 4.95 ERA and a 1.50 WHIP. Getting the opening weekend start does not guarantee that Phillips will retain that role all season but it is a good sign that Tennessee has enough trust in him to give him the ball to open the season.
“More mature, more under control,” Vitello said of Phillips. “The self belief is more real. I think last year we went through ups and downs of, it was there, then it wasn’t there. And then sometimes it was trying too hard to be somebody he’s not. He dang near started a fight one game, which, fortunately, we won. We were able to joke about it in the outfield, but I think a lot of it was just him searching for that formula of what’s the best version of himself.
“He’s much more well-rounded as a pitcher and a competitor.”
Tennessee’s Sunday starting pitcher is still uncertain against Hofstra. RHP Nate Snead, RHP Tegan Kuhns, LHP Dylan Loy and LHP Brandon Arvidson have all been involved in competition to be a weekend starter. Kuhns, Loy and Arvidson have not pitched in scrimmages a bunch this preseason and are not super stretched out because of it. Snead seems more likely poised for a role in the bullpen again this season. Junior college transfer Michael Sharman is another possibility.
Vitello and his staff could go a number of directions on Sunday but using an “opener” instead of a true starter seems like it is in the cards.
But with Tennessee playing 17 games before they open up SEC play against Florida in mid March, the Vols will likely give an abundance of pitchers starting opportunities.
First pitch between Tennessee and Hofstra for this weekend’s season-opener is at 4:30 p.m. ET on Friday afternoon. SEC Network+ is streaming the game.
