Although it nearly slipped away in the late innings, Tennessee baseball finally won its national championship.
The Volunteers gathered Monday night in Omaha, Nebraska, to officially close out the Men’s College World Series and win their first national title. The Vols beat Texas A&M 6-5 in the third game of the series at Charles Schwab Field, which marked their second straight victory and completed their title run.
They are now the first number one seed to win the tournament since Miami did so in 1999, which was when the current format was first introduced.
Tennessee holds out after A&M rally
After forcing the deciding game with a comeback of their own Sunday night, the Volunteers took an early lead in Game 3.
Christian Moore got things started with a solo shot over the left field wall in the first inning for his sixth leadoff home run of the season.
Texas A&M rallied in the third after Gavin Grahovac answered with a perfect RBI single to left field. Tennessee, however, responded with a Dylan Dreiling sacrifice fly and Dean Curley’s RBI single in the bottom of the inning to immediately jump ahead again.
The Aggies had big chances to take the lead in both the sixth and seventh innings, but stranded two runners in each inning after Tennessee brought in reliever Nate Snead. He got them through both innings unscathed, setting up Dreiling’s two-run homer in the bottom of the seventh.
That shot suddenly put Tennessee up by four.
Dreiling, who was named the Men’s College World Series Most Outstanding Player, hit a home run in every game in Omaha.
Tennessee also added another before the end of the inning, after Kavares Tears hit a deep shot off the right field wall that barely allowed Hunter Ensley to score after a ridiculous move at home. Ensley barely managed to get around the tag at the plate, and the run stood after a challenge from Texas A&M.
The Aggies finally rallied in the final two innings, but it came too late. They put up two in the eighth and then two more in the ninth, after Jackson Appel hit an RBI single and then came home on a wild pitch with two outs. But Aaron Combs successfully finished the ninth and sealed the one-run victory.
The Aggies, who entered the tournament as the third seed and were also seeking their first championship, appeared to be on track for a series sweep on Sunday. After Texas A&M cruised to a 9-5 victory in Game 1 of the series on Saturday, the Aggies carried a 1-0 lead into the seventh inning of Game 2 on Sunday. That’s when Tennessee’s bats finally came to life.
The Vols erupted behind a pair of two-run homers by Dreiling and Cal Stark late to lead them to a 4-1 victory and force Game 3 on Monday. Dreiling’s home run actually marked a first for Texas A&M, which was undefeated in the tournament. up to that point, he had been losing in a game in Omaha.
That was enough to spark Monday’s dominant victory and send the Vols back to Knoxville with a trophy.
