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College baseball’s best offense put on a show Sunday in Omaha.
In a battle against another high-octane lineup, Tennessee’s bats reigned supreme with a 6-1 victory over North Carolina in the Men’s College World Series. The top-seeded Vols improved to 2-0 in the double-elimination format, while North Carolina fell to 1-1 and an elimination game against ACC rival Florida State.
Starting pitchers Shea Sprague (North Carolina) and Drew Beam (Tennessee) held the early lead in their first runs through opposing lineups, as neither team recorded a hit in the first three innings of the game. North Carolina struck first in the top of the fourth on a Parks Harber single, but failed to score a run.
Tennessee broke things open in the bottom half of a plodding fourth inning by Sprague. With two in and two out, Kavares Tears broke the scoreless tie with a three-run home run on the 26th pitch of the inning.
Sprague had 32 pitches in the fourth before the inning ended. He then gave up a leadoff home run to Reese Chapman in the fifth, and his day was over.
North Carolina put Beam to work in a fifth inning that featured 27 pitches from the Tennessee starter. But a Colby Wilkerson strikeout stranded two runners and kept the Tar Heels off the scoreboard.
UNC had another chance in the seventh, when he followed a leadoff home run by Vance Honeycutt with two singles to put two men out while facing a 4-1 deficit. But Anthony Donofrio was thrown out trying to steal second with runners on the corners and one out. A Gavin Gallaher strikeout by reliever Kirby Connell finished off the UNC team with just one run.
There was no late-inning comeback this time for the Tar Heels, who secured four of their six NCAA Tournament wins in the final at-bat, including Friday’s win over Virginia in their MCWS opener. This time, Tennessee added unnecessary insurance down the stretch, and now needs a win in two potential games against North Carolina or Florida State to advance to the best-of-three MCWS finals.
Florida State Eliminates Virginia
In Sunday’s early elimination game, Florida State struck early and often, holding off a late Virginia surge for a 7-3 victory.
The Seminoles improved to 1-1 to advance and face North Carolina. Virginia fell to 0-2 late in the season in MCWS play.
Florida State scored first, with a bases-loaded walk in the third inning followed by a solo home run by left fielder Jaime Ferrer in the fourth. But the fifth inning was when the Seminoles really shined: Designated hitter Marco Dinges hit an RBI single, followed immediately by Ferrer with a three-run homer to give Florida State a 6-0 lead. Shortstop Alex Lodise added another run with a solo home run in the sixth inning.
Virginia got two back in the seventh with a pair of RBI singles. After a brief stoppage in the eighth to attend to the plate umpire, who was hit in the chin by a bounced pitch, Virginia left fielder Anthony Stephan hit an RBI double to further reduce Virginia’s lead. Florida State.
Despite the Cavaliers’ late push, Florida State closed the ninth inning with a double play to finish off Virginia and stay in Omaha for one more game.
Key statistics
Florida State pitcher Carson Dorsey had a stellar day, throwing 106 pitches in seven innings with seven strikeouts and holding the Cavaliers scoreless for six innings.
Virginia’s Jay Woolfolk started well on the mound, striking out three, but appeared to injure his right knee after Ferrer’s first home run and was removed in the fourth inning.
Reflexes
Although Virginia struggled on offense, there were some defensive bright spots, including this run-stealing catch by Harrison Didawick in the second inning.
The highlight was Ferrer’s second home run, which pushed Florida State to a demanding lead and increased Ferrer’s dominance on the night.
what they are saying
“To hit two (home runs) on Father’s Day is fantastic, especially with my dad in the stands,” Ferrer said after the game, adding that he and his father were planning to have dinner afterward to celebrate.
Ferrer also spoke during the postgame press conference about that particularly hot fifth inning for the Seminoles:
“It’s amazing. I always say that hitting is very contagious. We see the guys in front of you who are putting in good at-bats and are having success. It means that the game plan that we are carrying out is working. And it gives us trust.
“Seeing them play their best game, it was a thrill I’ll never forget here,” Florida State coach Link Jarrett said in the postgame press conference, referring to the team’s response after losing to Tennessee in the playoffs on Friday.
“These guys did the real work today,” he added. “But I’m proud of the response and the response of this team. I don’t know if I’ve ever been through something like Friday night, and I haven’t been a part of a response to something I’ve never seen before on this stage. “
Whats Next
North Carolina will play Florida State on Tuesday and the loser will be eliminated. The winner will then face Tennessee, who will need to win two games in a row to advance to the MCWS finals.
