2022 Tennessee baseball alumni give back to university, prepare for professional world

did help pay for the rest of my master’s, so that was a big incentive. But it is good to give back and help these kids, these students.”

Tennessee baseball took the world by storm in 2022. After going to Omaha the year before, the Vols returned, set a program record with 57 wins and won both the SEC regular season and tournament championships.

158 home runs later, disappointment struck. Tennessee fell to Notre Dame in the Super Regionals to end their historic season. With their college careers over, 10 Vols were drafted to continue playing in the MLB.

Sixth-year seniors Redmond Walsh and Luc Lipcius didn’t see their names called in the draft. The pair were left with tough decisions for their future. The decisions sent them down two separate paths with similar outcomes.

Walsh, who holds a degree in aerospace engineering, contemplated his future. The job market looked promising, but he wasn’t sure if he wanted to leave baseball just yet.

Then, a text from Tennessee head coach Tony Vitello popped up on Walsh’s phone.

“We can’t get rid of you,” the skipper wrote.

“I just told him, ‘I wanna be back, I wanna be with the team,’” Walsh told The Daily Beacon. “I want to see what it’s like being on the other side of it, the coaching side of it. So, that’s how it kind of all started out with the coaching side of it.”

As simple as that, Walsh had his plan set. He would join Tennessee pitching coach Frank Anderson and learn what it was like from his point of view. As a player, the pair become close. As a graduate assistant, the pair worked even closer.

Walsh tied Todd Helton as the all-time saves leader at Tennessee. As a soft throwing lefty, Walsh took on the closer spot for No. 1 Tennessee in 2022. His ability alone didn’t get the Alcoa native the spot, but his work ethic did. His mentality has carried over to the coaching side smoothly.

“I don’t even think Tony (Vitello) knew exactly what he wanted me to do when I got there, but as time went on I kind of figured out my role of helping the pitchers and kind of being like a second eye for Frank (Anderson),” Walsh said. “That’s been the best part about it is just learning from that guy.”

On the other hand, Lipcius didn’t want to get into college coaching. He had seen the grueling effects it can have on someone, and he saw how much time coaches put in for little pay.

While Walsh was talking with Vitello about joining Tennessee’s staff, Lipcius embarked on a cruise with his fiance. The cruise allowed him to unwind and think about his future.

Lipcius toyed with the idea of pursuing an undrafted free agent deal, but his high aca- demics and pursuit of a master’s degree in engineering opted him away from that decision.

As he wrapped up his cruise, Lipcius wasn’t sad but grateful for his experience in baseball.

“I think that kind of took the load off of the harsh reality of my college career being over,” Lipcius shared with The Daily Beacon. “So, it wasn’t a sad thing either because I knew that what I had been a part of at Tennessee was so great that I could rest easy at night and be happy with what happened.”

He didn’t completely abandon baseball, though. The all-time home run leader at Tennessee began giving hitting lessons to Knoxville kids — kids who looked up to the former first baseman.

At first, Lipcius thought the opportunity to give lessons would be an easy way to stay around baseball and get some income as well. As a full-time master’s student in the Tickle College of Engineering, he didn’t have time for a traditional job.

Not long after he began working with younger athletes, Lipcius began to find a love for what he was doing.

“It turned into like, ‘Dude, I’m actually like changing these kids and, and improving them,’” Lipcius said. “And it just turned into a very good experience, a gratifying experience to have helped a kid get better at something.”

While Lipcius had never expected himself to enjoy coaching as much as he did, Walsh knew that coaching was something he wanted to do.

The building blocks were there for Walsh, so he jumped at the chance to pursue his dream of coaching. The southpaw’s ultimate dream would be to go “full circle” and take over as Tennessee’s pitching coach.

The opportunity to give back to a university that had given so much to him played a part in Walsh’s decision.

“Just how much love and support they’ve given me is one of those things that if I can give back to those guys a fraction of what they gave to me, I think I’d make some kind of impact and just show how important that the university and the people around it have been to me,” Walsh said.

Lipcius chose to give back to Tennessee academically, while Walsh was doing so in the dugout. With one year left on his master’s degree, Lipcius has become a teaching assistant.

He is just “Luc” to his students and took on the opportunity to help aspiring engineers find their way through college. Having gone through the program himself, he is able to help current students with issues he went through as a freshman.

“It is good to give back and teach these students what I know,” Lipcius said. “Especially because I feel like I have a good way of teaching to where I’m not super strict. I’m friendly with the students, and of course, it

As the school year comes to an end, Lipcius will graduate with his master’s degree and start a job with Gulfstream in Georgia. The job will let Lipcius put his education to use while overseeing the production of private jets. His “normal” job will give Lipcius time to perfect his golf swing and even play some adult softball. It also allows him to get away from baseball, something he has spent almost all of his life playing.

“I think without just a straight, clean break from baseball as in like coaching or playing, that I would hold onto it too much and it would almost drag me down,” Lipcius said. “Not that I’m saying that I wouldn’t enjoy being a coach, it’s just one of those things that I would look back on it I feel like I wouldn’t be satisfied.”

Similar to Lipcius, Walsh has also received an opportunity in the professional engineering world. It won’t be a clean break for Walsh though as he hopes to continue his coaching career.

“Build your resume, start somewhere else, kind of make your own name,” Walsh said of his new opportunity. “It was something where another opportunity fell and I wanted to see what else was out there. I had an engineering degree. I’ve never got to do an engineering job, and it’s something that I just kind of wanted to go out there and see what else there is.”

As the pair heads into the professional world of engineering, their fingerprints are everywhere around Tennessee baseball. The program has come a long way since they arrived.

The two showed up to a Tennessee team in 2017 that was near the bottom of the SEC, and they left as local Knoxville celebrities.

“Every so often somebody recognizes me and I get those little butterflies in my tummy, like, ‘Holy moly, you still recognize me,’” Lipcius said. “It’s just so cool because my freshman year and when I was younger in college, nobody knew anyone on the baseball team. We were just an average Joe.”

When the class of 2017 arrived on campus, they had one goal: change the program. When the class of 2017 left the program, it was at its highest point in recent history. Tennessee baseball is now a national brand that draws attention from across the country.

For Lipcius and Walsh, it was a success of the mission they set out for.

“Just to see us going literally from the worst to the best, is something that I’ll hold with me,” Lipcius said. “I think that the only real way to explain it is when we won that super regional in 2021, me and Pete (Derkay) and (Evan Russell), the old guys, we just broke down on the field, started crying. We did it, and that was the defining moment.”