Kirby Connell sees 'competitive at-bats' out of Texas A&M

Between the final two teams standing in the College World Series, Tennesee and Texas A&M, there’s no shortage of offensive firepower, and the pitchers for both sides know they’re in for quite a challenge.

For Volunteer reliever Kirby Connell, it’s all about patience with the Aggies. A&M is notorious for their sharp eye at the plate, drawing tons of walks throughout the year while regularly forcing at-bats into the 5-6+ pitch range.

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“You know, they have a lot of competitive at-bats,” said Connell when asked about facing Texas A&M’s offense at a press conference ahead of the finals. “You mentioned a lot of walks, a lot of long at-bats.”

With that in mind, Connell says Tennessee is going on the offensive.

“But I think our main thing is we’re going to do what we do. We’re going to throw strikes and pound the zone like Coach (Frank Anderson) taught us. And we’re going to go out there and let our defense play behind us.”

Tennessee doesn’t plan to sit there and give the Aggies a bunch of pitches to look like. They plan on attacking the Texas A&M batters head-on, for better or worse.

Connell is also just excited for the chance to bring a national championship to Knoxville. With what Tony Vitello has built over the years, a title would be the cherry on top, the final seal of the truly great program that’s developed.

It’s been over 70 years since the Vols have made the national championship series and they’ve never won it all. Looking to be the first team to break that barrier and become NCAA champions for the first time in program history, that fact isn’t lost on the players on the current Tennessee roster.

“It would be awesome,” Kirby Connell said ahead of Game 1. “This is something that we’ve talked about for my five years, is trying to win a national championship. And I think this group — we’ve spent a lot of time together. We talk about that’s our main goal is to try to win a national championship.

“We get to a three-round fight this weekend. And try to be the first team to win two games.”

History is on the line for Tennessee as they go for all the glory in Omaha on Charles Schwab Field this weekend. For Connell, he’s taking dead aim once he gets on the mound.