Tag: tony vitello

Tennessee defeated Texas A&M, 6-5, in Game 3 of the College World Series Finals at Charles Schwab Field Omaha in Omaha, Nebraska, on Monday.

With the victory, Tennessee (60-13) won its first national championship in program history.

Seventh-year head coach Tony Vitello recapped the Vols’ defeating Texas A&M (53-14) and winning the College World Series Final 2-1.

“Very surreal,” Vitello said. “Hard to center yourself, which is a good thing, being lost in the moment, I guess. Nothing too intelligent to say other than the first thing to say is I hope the fans that have turned this into an insane party, insane event, got the series that they wanted and that they deserved.

“It clearly could have been either team’s trophy tonight, so congrats to Texas A&M. I mean, you cross paths with players in Hoover and just on the field, and, in particular, some of their mainstays are just incredibly cool guys. Then also, I was given an opportunity to experience something different, the University of Missouri, so I owe a thank you to that coach at Texas A&M who did a phenomenal job and made an incredible hire this year, too, so congrats to coach (Jim) Schlossnagle and Texas A&M and their fans that have always kind of blown my mind ever since I was at Missouri. We went to a football game there, and it was unbelievable. Everybody was pretty friendly until Brad Smith did his thing, but Texas A&M’s definitely won their fair share of football games. Enough rambling. No better team to win for the University of Tennessee than a bunch of guys who were truly the definition of a team. No better play for our program too, I think, be the winning run on that slide, a guy that’s just built with a ton of grit, and his teammates follow his leadership, and it’s a great example of how this group got things done.”

No. 3 seed Texas A&M (53-13) defeated No. 1 seed Tennessee (58-13), 9-5, in Game 1 of the College World Series Finals on Saturday at Charles Schwab Field Omaha in Omaha, Nebraska.

Seventh-year Tennessee head coach Tony Vitello met with media and recapped the series-opening loss to the Aggies.

“Pretty straightforward, the team that played better won the game,” Vitello said. “They appeared more prepared, but I think that was a result of Gavin (Grahovac) puts a good swing on a pitch. It’s kind of the third time in a row we beat our guy that particular way, and then couple things don’t go our way.

“It kind of got emotional there, a little more emotional than it usually does, but for a proper reason, with the situation, but I think the basics come. They played better, and even though we didn’t bring our best, we’re within striking distance against their guy there at the end of the game.”