Tony Vitello comments on 'incredible' moment during Tennessee's game 3 win against Southern Miss
With the Tennessee Vols clinging to a 4-0 lead against Southern Mississippi in the top of the seventh inning, Tony Vitello pulled Drew Beam after the starting pitcher allowed a pair of singles to start the inning. Aaron Combs came into the game and recorded a quick out. Combs was then pulled for Chase Burns just […]
With the Tennessee Vols clinging to a 4-0 lead against Southern Mississippi in the top of the seventh inning, Tony Vitello pulled Drew Beam after the starting pitcher allowed a pair of singles to start the inning.
Aaron Combs came into the game and recorded a quick out. Combs was then pulled for Chase Burns just around midnight ET. Burns quickly shut down any hopes of a Southern Miss comeback.
Burns tossed 2.2 scoreless innings, allowing just a walk in the final inning of Tennessee's 5-0 win.
The Tennessee native showed plenty of emotion during his performance against Southern Miss — specifically after striking out the two batters he faced to escape the jam in the seventh inning.
That emotion shows you exactly how much that moment (and getting to Omaha) means to Burns.
After the game, Tennessee head coach Tony Vitello was asked about Burns' emotional moment.
"It was incredible," said Vitello.
"I thought that was going to be a swing moment in the game so why not give it to the big dog right there? That emotion he shows is reminiscent of what took place earlier in an SEC weekend for us and it helped swing this whole season. It gave the guys a rallying point. It gave other team’s something to fear at the end of the game and he did it again and it was pretty special. It lifted our guys and gave our guys confidence that we had ownership of the game."
It was certainly an incredible moment that Tennessee baseball fans will never forget. And I'm sure Burns is hoping for similar moments during what could be a memorable run in the College World Series.
Featured image via Brianna Paciorka/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK
