Tony Vitello credits Tennessee's lineup for impressive battle against Shea Sprague

Shea Sprague has had an excellent season for North Carolina, but Tennessee got the best of him Sunday night in the College World Series.

The Vols scored 4 runs in 4 innings against Sprague, handing him only his second loss of the year. After the game, Tennessee coach Tony Vitello spoke about the job his offense did against the lefty, chasing him out of the game early on.

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“I think the one thing you’d be remiss if you didn’t point out is Sprague is so good,” Tony Vitello said. “He’s kind of their Drew Beam. I don’t mean to speak for them, but just kind of watching and looking at the numbers, he’s incredibly consistent. He’s a strike-thrower. But some of those outs did not come very easily for him.”

The big blow for Tennessee came in the fourth inning when Kavares Tears blasted a three-run home run to give the Vols a 3-0 lead. However, even before that, Tennessee was doing a good job of making Sprague work.

An at bat for Blake Burke in the first inning in particular stood out to Vitello. Burke fouled off four pitches before eventually striking out.

“Even Burke strikes out in the first inning, but it might have been a 10-pitch at-bat. And it allows our guys to see what was going on,” Vitello said. “The one thing we’ve kind of mentioned with our guys is… anyone of them might be able to do something for us.

“When everybody’s involved and trying to contribute, you kind of end up with that deal, like I said, where we’re leaning on Sprague a little bit and someone was just able to get to him. That would be my explanation of that deal.”

Tennessee finished the game with seven hits by six different batters. Four of Tennessee’s seven hits were by the six, seven and eight hitters in the lineup, including a pair of hits by Tears.

With the Vols pitching well and playing strong defense, that was all it took to earn another win at the College World Series.

“I think when you do have the best athletes playing defense behind some of the best arms in the country, runs are always going to be difficult to get,” Vitello said.

Tennessee is now 2-0 in Omaha as the Vols continue to fight to win a national title. Tennessee will face either North Carolina or Florida State on Wednesday at the College World Series. First pitch is scheduled for 2 p.m.