Tony Vitello on facing Ryan Prager: 'He's given a lot of people fits'

To be the best, you have to beat the best. In the Tennessee Volunteers’ case, they have to beat Texas A&M pitcher Ryan Prager. On Friday, UT head coach Tony Vitello weighed in on Tennessee’s impending matchup against the All-SEC pitcher.

“We’ll have to go up against Prager,” Vitello said. “It will be the second time. And he’s given a lot of people fits, either a lot of strikes out of him, but also gets guys to chase out of the zone a little bit.

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“At this point in our league—or the ACC, too—you’ve got about as much experience as you are going to have. He’s already thrown on the mound out there. It’s up to us to put our best foot forward or put ourselves forward and stay true to who we are. And he’ll be trying to do the same thing.”

The stakes will be higher than ever for the two teams. On Saturday, they will begin their best-of-three series for the national championship. Although the teams did not meet during the regular season, they did clash in the SEC Tournament.

Texas A&M started Prager in the heated showdown but Tennessee walked away with a 7-4 victory, nonetheless. Prager held the mound for 2.1 innings in the loss, allowing three hits and a run.

Prager boasts a career-high 2.88 ERA this season. In 93.2 innings pitched, he has tallied 118 strikeouts while holding opponents to a .216 batting average. Of course, Prager isn’t the only talented arm on Texas A&M’s team.

Texas A&M’s bullpen is more than Ryan Prager

Texas A&M has a stunning 3.80 ERA this season, the third-best in the country. Moreover, teams only average 7.87 hits per 10 innings against the Aggies. Vitello knows his batters have their work cut out for them this weekend.

“You look at the guys who will be available afterwards — or better yet look at the way they’ve gone to the bullpen in the postseason — [Texas A&M head coach Jim Schlossnagle] is not afraid to go to the bullpen early because he knows he’s got weapons down there,” Vitello said.

Tennessee isn’t backing down from the challenge. On Saturday, the Volunteers and Aggies will go head-to-head at 7:30 p.m. ET in Game 1 of the College World Series Finals. The game will be broadcast on ESPN.