Tennessee Baseball going back to Houston for College Classic in 2025
Tennessee Baseball’s defense of its national championship will start with a tough test in Houston, where the Vols will be one of six teams playing in the Astros Foundation College Classic at Minute Maid Park.
The tournament will be played February 28-March 2. The other five teams alongside the Vols are Texas A&M, Mississippi State, Arizona, Oklahoma State and Rice.
Tennessee, the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament, won the national championship a week ago, beating No. 3 Texas A&M 6-5 in Game 3 of the College World Series Final.
The Vols (60-13) not only won their first title but also set a new program and SEC record with 60 wins in a single season and became the first No. 1 overall seed to win the College World Series since Miami in 1999.
The Astros Foundation College Classic returns to @MinuteMaidPark! Don't miss these epic matchups between your favorite colleges and universities!
— Houston Astros (@astros) July 1, 2024
More info here: https://t.co/awWEgWpSVT pic.twitter.com/TS9asiDz3E
Tennessee Baseball’s previous trips to Texas
Tennessee’s national championship season started in Arlington, Texas, in the Shriners Children’s College Showdown. The Vols beat Texas Tech 6-2 to start the season, lost to Oklahoma 5-1 in 10 innings, then beat Baylor 11-5.
The trips to Texas early in the season have been a regular occurrence under Tony Vitello.
Tennessee in 2022 went to Houston for the Shriners Hospitals for Children College Classic, losing to Texas and beating Baylor and Oklahoma. The Vols went to Round Rock, Texas, for the Round Rock Classic in 2020, beating Texas Tech, Houston and Stanford.
In 2023 Tennessee went to Arizona for the MLB Desert Invitational, losing to Arizona and Grand Canyon before beating UC San Diego.
Tony Vitello turned down ‘a very furious run’ from Texas A&M
Texas A&M on Sunday named former Aggie hitting coach Michael Earley as the program’s new head coach, replacing Jim Schlossnagle after he left for Texas on Tuesday.
A&M reportedly made a “very furious run” at Vitello in its search for a new head coach, according to a report from D1Baseball.com‘s Kendall Rogers on Sunday, but Vitello stayed loyal to the Vols
“It shot its shot,” Rogers wrote of Texas A&M on social media Sunday afternoon, “but TV stayed put and loyal to a program that has given him the keys to the castle.”Vitello, who just finished his seventh seasons as head coach at Tennessee, rapidly rebuilt the Vols after being hired in June 2017.
In 2019 he took Tennessee back to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2005. Since then the Vols have won 12 straight regional games, have been the No. 1 overall seed in two of the last three tournaments and have been to the College World Series in Omaha in three of the last four seasons.
Tennessee over the last four seasons has led the country in wins (211), win percentage (.773), NCAA Tournament wins (25) and home runs (566).
