The overall number 1 spot Tennessee Volunteers They find themselves in a serious hole on Saturday night. He Texas A&M Aggies they jumped out to a 7-2 lead in the bottom of the fifth inning of their CWS Finals matchup in Omaha, Nebraska. And early in the bottom of the fifth, ESPN’s Kris Budden sat down with Tennessee head coach Tony Vitello to get his take.
Tony Vitello was disappointed by the first errors
“I just didn’t play well. We are more or less in the same place. We had the same conversation against Florida State. You know, a couple of mistakes on defense. A couple of pitches that maybe needed to be done a little better. And offensively, it hasn’t been bad, but we’re in a position where we could take this guy (Ryan Prager) out of the game, which would be a huge accomplishment. He is his ace. And he’s pretty good. So, a little bit far from where we need to be,” Vitello explained.
It was his third lineup in the order against Prager. What did his team need to adjust offensively to achieve this and take him out of the game?
“I think just shorten the changes. You know, he’ll mess with you. It’s a slow rhythm, very slow and then he mixes it up a lot. And if you overdo it, you’ll get into trouble. I’ve seen some guys take shorter swings. You know, we’re not going to hit a home run or anything like that, but they’re still coming after us,” Vitello said.
Just then, Prager was benched in the bottom of the fifth inning. He was replaced by right-hander Josh Stewart. After four innings of work, Prager allowed eight hits and two runs, while striking out six. It will likely be his last game in a Texas A&M uniform.
Kaeden Kent hit a two-run homer in the top of the seventh to put the Aggies up 9-2. And Tennessee would fight to put a few more runs on the scoreboard, but it wouldn’t be enough. Texas A&M won Game 1 of the CWS finals 9-5. They are now just one win away from taking home the 2024 National Championship.
Texas A&M currently has an overall record of 53-13. They are the third seed overall in this year’s NCAA Tournament. They punched their tickets to the CWS Finals after defeating the Florida Gators twice in Omaha, along with the Kentucky Wildcats. The Aggies have yet to lose a game in the College World Series and currently boast a 3-0 record. After defeating the Gators for the second time, A&M’s pitching staff had 680 strikeouts on the year, a new program record.
Tennessee currently has an overall record of 58-13. They have been one of the most dominant teams in college baseball this year and there is a reason they had the number one seed nationally in this year’s NCAA Tournament. They have gone 3-1 overall during their time in Omaha. They outscored FSU 12-11 in one game, defeated UNC 6-1, and defeated the ‘Noles again 7-2. It is the first time since 1951 that Tennessee has advanced to the CWS finals.
