The Tennessee Volunteers aren’t going to Omaha.
Notre Dame eliminated the top-seeded squad from the NCAA’s college baseball super regionals with a 7-3 upset on Sunday. Down 3-1 after six, the Fighting Irish scored three runs in both the seventh and eighth innings to stun the Volunteers in Knoxville.
Per Volunteer Country’s Jack Foster, Tennessee head coach Tony Vitello credit a tough opponent while blaming himself for the shortcoming.
“Congrats to Notre Dame,” Vitello said. I didn’t put my guys in a good position to succeed.”
Following an unexpected early exit, Tennessee has still yet to make the College World Series in back-to-back seasons. Notre Dame can relate after getting booted from the super regionals last year.
“It’s not automatic to make it back to Omaha. It’s incredibly difficult,” Vitello said. “Ask Notre Dame. They didn’t last year. And I’m sure they remembered that and it gave them some drive for Friday night’s game.”
Tennessee had seven losses all season before dropping a best-of-three series to Notre Dame, who joined Texas A&M and Oklahoma among the teams to secure a spot in the College World Series.