Tennessee Vols HC Tony Vitello pushes back against college baseball rule

The Tennessee Vols missed out on at least six at bats on Tuesday night in their 10-0 win against Belmont because of a rule that UT head coach Tony Vitello can't stand. 

In the bottom of the sixth inning, Vols outfielder Reese Chapman hit a home run that extended Tennessee's lead to 10-0. 

Belmont didn't score in the top of the seventh inning which meant the game ended early due to the run rule, robbing the Vols of a few at bats. 

After the game, Vitello expressed frustration with the rule. 

"The first nine runs were great," said Vitello. "The last one, I already used my cuss word in my in-game interview on Sunday, so I won’t do one now but I’d like to. I don’t know. I’ve had it with that (run rule). I’ve recommended people to be on the board or when we have our SEC meetings, to be the ones that speak first and all that. And I am way down the totem pole and I ain’t trying to be humble, but I’m kind of over this whole deal here. 10 ain’t a lot. I don’t know why that’s the number. Reese Chapman hits a home run and everyone is bummed out. That’s not good. That doesn’t make sense."

The run rule is used in all SEC conference games. In non-conference games, like Tennessee's game against Belmont, the run rule is in place only if the non-conference coach consents (per the SEC). 

The SEC will also implement a 10-run rule for conference games. The policy stipulates that a contest shall be stopped after seven innings if one team is ahead by at least 10 runs, in accordance with NCAA playing rules. The 10-run rule shall also be utilized for all non-conference competition with the consent of the coach of the non-conference opponent. If the coach of the non-conference opponent does not consent, the game shall be played in its entirety consistent with NCAA playing rules.

It sounds like Vitello would like to do away with the run rule in general, which is understandable. After all, part of the charm of baseball is that the game isn't over until the 27th out is recorded, which means there's always a chance to come back from a large deficit (which does happen from time to time).