Tag: college-baseball

Men’s College World Series: Tennessee captures their first title in school history men,s,college,world,series,tennessee,captures,their,first,title,in,school,history,sbnation,com,front-page,college-baseball,college-world-series,ncaa-baseball-tournament

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Sunday in Omaha a two-run home run from Dylan Dreiling kept Tennessee’s title dreams alive.

Monday night in Omaha a two-run blast from Dreiling helped solidify them.

The Tennessee Volunteers captured the NCAA Men’s College World Series for the first time in school history, taking the best-of-three series against Texas A&M in Game 3 by a final score of 6-5.

And as was the case Sunday, Dreiling played a starring role.

A sacrifice fly from Dreiling in the third inning staked the Volunteers to a 2-1 lead, but the score was 3-1 in Tennessee’s favor when Dreiling came to the plate with two outs in the bottom of the seventh. Billy Amick, having singled to left center ahead of Dreiling, took his lead off first.

But he would jog from there:

Dreiling got his hand around on a 78-mph breaking ball from Texas A&M pitcher Evan Aschenbeck, lofting a high fly ball to right field. Aggies right fielder Caden Sorrell gave it everything he had on the leap, but he came up just inches short.

That made it three home runs in three Men’s College World Series Finals games for Dreiling, and the outfielder’s two-run shot gave the Volunteers a 5-1 lead.

Tennessee was not done in the seventh and tacked on another run on one of the greatest slides you may ever see. After Dreiling’s home run Hunter Ensley got on with a seeing-eye single, which brought Kavares Tears to the plate. Tears promptly launched a deep fly off the wall in center field, and Ensley tried to come all the way around from first on the play, but a great relay from the Aggies saw the ball beat Ensley to home plate.

But somehow, some way, Ensley avoided the tag from catcher Jackson Appel:

Ensley reads this play perfectly. He sees the throw come to the glove side of Appel and then cuts to the inside, sweeping across the plate with his left hand to touch home. Texas A&M challenged the play, but video replays confirmed the safe call on the field.

That slide would end up being huge.

The Aggies put two runs on the board in the eighth to make it 6-3, but left-hander Kirby Connell came into the game and stopped the bleeding with a pair of strikeouts to end the inning. Aidan Combs, who also played a huge role in Sunday’s win for Tennessee coming out of the bullpen, came on to face the top of the Texas A&M lineup in the ninth.

The Aggies did not make it easy.

Gavin Grahovac led off the inning with a double, bringing the dangerous Jace LaViolette to the plate. Combs was able to strike out LaViolette, but an Appel single into left field plated Grahovac, making the Tennessee lead 6-4 and bringing the tying run to the plate in the form of Hayden Schott, who was 3-for-4 on the night with a trio of singles.

Combs got the swinging strikeout of Schott with a high fastball, and the Aggies were down to their final out as Ted Burton strode to the plate. But a wild pitch brought Appel home, making it 6-5 with Burton representing the tying run, and the go-ahead run in the on-deck circle.

Combs punched Burton out on a 79-mph breaking ball, getting Burton to go down swinging and touching off the celebration. For the first time in school history, the baseball National Championship trophy is headed to Rocky Top.

For his effort throughout the series, Dreiling was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player.

With the title the Volunteers became the first No. 1 overall seed to win the Men’s College World Series since Miami did it back in 1999. That was the first year the tournament expanded to the current 64-team format.

Men’s College World Series: Dylan Dreiling and Cal Stark keep Tennessee alive men,s,college,world,series,dylan,dreiling,and,cal,stark,keep,tennessee,alive,sbnation,com,front-page,college-baseball,college-world-series,ncaa-baseball-tournament

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Tennessee needed a spark.

Trailing Texas A&M 1-0 in the top of the seventh, just seven outs away from losing the Men’s College World Series, they needed something to go their way offensively. One of the most potent offensive teams in college baseball had been stymied by a trio of Aggies pitchers and was staring elimination in the face.

Enter Dylan Dreiling, who provided that spark with one swing of the bat.

The man who was a hero for the Volunteers in their first game in Omaha came through again, delivering a no-doubter to deep right field. The home run brought Christian Moore home as well, giving Tennessee a 2-1 lead in the seventh:

Dreiling managed to turn on a 94-mph fastball from left-hander Kaiden Wilson, depositing it in the bullpen in right field:

That swing changed the momentum of the game, but it was not the only big blast from the Volunteers. In the top of the eighth catcher Cal Stark — who entered the at-bat on an 0-for-16 streak along with nine strikeouts — hammered a hanging slider to left field for a two-run shot:

The home run came one swing after Stark saw his bat fly out of his hands on a swing against a mid-90s fastball. Volunteers fans are likely pretty happy Stark managed to keep the bat in his hands on his very next swing.

Tennessee shut the Aggies down over their final two at-bats, thanks to relievers Aaron Combs and their bullpen.

Combs was first out of the pen for the Volunteers, doing a masterful job at slowing down the Texas A&M offense after taking the ball from starter Drew Beam. The Tennessee starting pitcher allowed just one run — a solo shot from Jace LaViolette in the first inning — before giving way to Combs in the fifth. Combs came on with a pair of Aggies on base and no outs but wriggled out of the jam with a pair of strikeouts and a pickoff play at first base for the final out of the inning.

The Aggies threatened in the eighth when a two-out single from LaViolette through the shift on the right side brought the tying run to the on-deck circle. Combs then walked Jackson Appel, bringing out Tennessee pitching coach Frank Anderson to settle Combs.

Whatever Anderson said to Combs worked, as the right-hander got dangerous cleanup hitter Hayden Schott to fly out to end the inning.

In the ninth Combs came out first, but gave up a leadoff single to Ted Burton. Tennessee head coach Tony Vitello then summoned the lefty Connell, but he could not record an out, giving up a single to Caden Sorrell. Vitello then turned to Nate Snead, who was able to close out the game by recording the final three outs of the contest. That third out was a tough battle against dangerous pinch hitter Ryan Targac, who worked the count even after going down 2-2 and even pulled a long fly ball down the right field line that looked like it might tie the game off the bat. But Targac flew out to right field on the next pitch, ending the threat.

Meaning it will all be decided tomorrow night in Omaha.

Men’s College World Series Finals: Texas A&M-Tennessee statistics, schedule, and prediction men,s,college,world,series,finals,texas,a,m,tennessee,statistics,schedule,and,prediction,sbnation,com,front-page,college-baseball,college-world-series,ncaa-baseball-tournament

Mens College World Series Finals Texas AM Tennessee statistics schedule and
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At the end of May 64 college baseball teams began a journey, with Omaha as their dream destination.

Now just two teams are left standing in Omaha, with dreams of NCAA baseball immortality alive.

The Men’s College World Series Finals begin on Saturday, with SEC rivals Tennessee and Texas A&M set to begin a best-of-three series to determine this season’s National Champion. When this tournament began the Volunteers and the Aggies were viewed as two of the top teams in the field, as the Aggies were the third-seeded team heading into the tournament, while the Volunteers were the top team in the field.

If history is to be our guide, the Aggies might be in a better position to win the Finals. Since the NCAA expanded to the current format the top-overall seed has won the Men’s College World Series just once, and that was Miami back in 1999, the first season with a 64-team field. More often than not the top seed comes up short, as the Volunteers did back in 2022 when they were the top-seeded team and did not even advance to Omaha.

As for teams seeded No. 3, like Texas A&M, they have won the Men’s College World Series three times. Most recently Oregon State won as a No. 3 seed back in 2018.

Ahead of the Finals getting underway, let’s take a look at each team’s path to this point, a statistical matchup between the two teams, revisit what happened the one time they played this season, and finish it off with a prediction sure to be wrong.

Tennessee’s path to the Finals

The Volunteers enter the Men’s College World Series Finals with a 58-12 overall record, and went 22-8 this season in SEC play.

The Volunteers have lost just once in the entire Men’s College World Series.

Knoxville Regional

Defeated Northern Kentucky, 9-3
Defeated Indiana 12-6
Defeated Southern Miss 12-3

Knoxville Super Regional

Defeated Evansville 11-6
Lost to Evansville 10-8
Defeated Evansville 12-1

Men’s College World Series Double Elimination Round

Defeated Florida State 12-11
Defeated North Carolina 6-1
Defeated Florida State 7-2

Texas A&M’s path to the Finals

The Aggies enter the Men’s College World Series Finals with a 52-13 overall record, while they finished with a 19-11 record in SEC play.

They have yet to lose since the Men’s College World Series began.

Bryan-College Station Regional

Defeated Grambling 8-0
Defeated Texas 4-2
Defeated Louisiana 9-4

Bryan-College Station Super Regional

Defeated Oregon 10-6
Defeated Oregon 15-9

Men’s College World Series Double Elimination Round

Defeated Florida 3-2
Defeated Kentucky 5-1
Defeated Florida 6-0

Men’s College World Series Final schedule

Saturday, June 22

  • Game 1: Tennessee vs. Texas A&M | 7:30 p.m. ET | ESPN/ESPN+

Sunday, June 23

  • Game 2: Tennessee vs. Texas A&M | 2:00 p.m. ET | ABC/ESPN+

Monday, June 24

  • Game 3 (if necessary): Tennessee vs. Texas A&M | 7 p.m. ET | ESPN/ESPN+

Statistical matchup

Here is how these two teams matchup in a number of key statistics, provided by both D1Baseball.com and NCAA.com:

Head-to-head

These teams have met just once this season, back in SEC Tournament play.

In that game, back on May 23, the Aggies took an early 1-0 lead thanks to a solo home run from leadoff hitter Gavin Grahovac in the third inning. But the Volunteers chipped away over the next few innings, tying the game in the bottom of the third on a sacrifice fly from outfielder Dylan Dreiling. They took the lead in the fourth on a Fielder’s Choice off the bat of Christian Moore, with Dean Curley scoring from third.

In the bottom of the fifth a double from Kavares Tears brought Dreiling around to score, giving the Volunteers a 3-1 lead. Texas A&M cut that lead to just one with a solo shot off the bat of catcher Jackson Appell in the sixth.

Tears came through again for Tennessee in the seventh, with a three-run blast to left pushed the Volunteers’ lead to 6-2. The teams traded runs in the eighth, and Grahovac added another run for the Aggies in the ninth on a solo shot, but it was not enough as the Volunteers advanced by the final score of 7-4.

A prediction sure to be wrong

What is a preview piece without a prediction that is sure to be wrong?

As the old adage goes, good pitching beats good hitting. As you can see above, the Aggies have a solid staff to call on for this series, and that staff is rested and ready to go.

But the college game is a bit different these days. Watching the entire Men’s College World Series this year, you get the sense that today’s game is about what you can do at the plate. While both teams have potent lineups, Tennessee does have an advantage at the dish.

This is likely a series that goes the entire three games, and when all is said and done, the Volunteers will take home the title.

Men’s College World Series: Zander Sechrist and Tennessee advance to the Finals men,s,college,world,series,zander,sechrist,and,tennessee,advance,to,the,finals,sbnation,com,front-page,college-baseball,college-world-series,ncaa-baseball-tournament

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Wednesday was the kind of outing you dream about as a pitcher for Tennessee’s Zander Sechrist. The senior left-hander got the call for the Volunteers and was tasked with slowing down Florida State with a spot in the Men’s College World Series Final on the line.

For six innings, Sechrist did exactly that.

Facing a Seminoles lineup that hung 11 runs on the Volunteers earlier this week and had mashed all season long — Florida State posted a Slugging Percentage of .559 this season (seventh in the nation) and an OPS of .974 (sixth in the country) — the left-hander kept Florida State scoreless through six innings of work. Sechrist showed complete command of the strike zone, placing an array of fastballs and sharp-breaking balls almost anywhere he wanted to. With some of those breaking balls topping out in the low 80s and even upper 70s, the Florida State hitters were kept off-balance for the first six innings of the game.

By the time the Seminoles finally got to Sechrist for a pair of solo home runs in the seventh inning, the Volunteers’ potent offense had put six runs on the board, spurred on by a three-run first inning. Tennessee added another run in the second, and one more in the third when Christian Moore — who made MCWS history earlier in the week when he became just the second player ever to hit for the cycle — ripped a triple down the right-field line, bringing catcher Cal Stark around to score from first:

And while the Seminoles made it interesting with the two solo home runs in the seventh, Blake Burke added an insurance run for Tennessee with this absolute bomb to right-center:

But the headlines belong to Sechrist, who finished the day giving the Volunteers 6.1 innings of solid work, allowing just a pair of runs while striking out three.

Earlier this week Tennessee head coach Tony Vitello talked about Sechrist getting this opportunity, and how Vitello was “excited” to see the left-hander on the bump.

“We’re really excited,” Vitello said. “This is the guy that has the ability to pitch on the weekend, which he’s accomplished that and helped pitch our team to Omaha, which he did last year as well. I mean, it’s so crucial every game that you play. And he’s logged a ton of innings for us in his career with us and just been a good leader and a good teammate as well.

“I don’t want to call it gravy or anything like that, but now it’s time to enjoy the opportunity for him to compete and then for us to enjoy the opportunity to watch him compete while at the same time just kind of managing the game as best we see fit.”

Sechrist made managing the game easier for Vitello, thanks to his outing on Wednesday.

Now the Volunteers will wait to see who they will face in the Men’s College World Series Finals, between the winner of the Texas A&M-Florida matchup. The Aggies just need one win to advance, while the Gators need two straight wins to make a return appearance in the Finals.

Men’s College World Series: Florida overwhelms Kentucky men,s,college,world,series,florida,overwhelms,kentucky,sbnation,com,front-page,college-baseball,college-world-series,ncaa-baseball-tournament

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The Kentucky Wildcats booked a spot in Omaha for the first time in program history thanks to “chaos.” Kentucky found a way to manufacture runs all season long, relying on little things like bunts, stolen bases, aggressive base running, and more to beat teams. As for the Florida Gators, who Kentucky faced in an elimination game Wednesday, they were built to mash.

On Wednesday in Omaha, mashing won out.

The Gators overwhelmed Kentucky 15-4 to eliminate the Wildcats and keep their title hopes alive for at least one more game.

Kentucky scratched out a run in the top of the first inning, thanks to a walk and then a stolen base from leadoff hitter Ryan Waldschmidt, and then an RBI single from DH Nick Lopez.

Their 1-0 lead did not last long.

Florida, with a revised lineup at the top that saw Jac Caglianone leading off for the first time in Omaha, put up a crooked number in the bottom of the inning, and a big one at that. The Gators put seven runs on the board, with the big blow a grand slam off the bat of designated hitter Brody Donay:

The Florida DH was just getting started.

A Donay single in the third gave the Gators two runners on base with just one out. Kentucky recorded the second out of the inning and then walked Caglianone to get to their No. 2 hitter, 2B Cade Kurland.

The 2B responded with a single to shallow center, advancing to second using a nifty slide to avoid the tag. Two runs scored on the single, giving Florida a 9-1 lead.

Kentucky started to chip away at the Gators’ lead, scoring a run in the fourth and then two more in the fifth on a two-run blast from Emilien Pitre. But the Gators’ potent lineup had another crooked number up their sleeve, as Florida hung five more runs on the board in the fifth inning.

Some of those runs came via the long ball, as Donay went yard again down the left-field line for a solo shot to start the fifth. The blast came off the bat at over 117 miles per hour, the highest exit velocity recorded at Omaha this postseason:

But the runs kept coming, starting with Florida executing some small ball of their own. After Donay blasted his second home run of the game, Caglianone walked, then advanced to second on a wild pitch. He then swiped third, getting a huge jump off pitcher Jackson Nove Nove as the lefty failed to even look in his direction.

While Kurland struck out looking on the pitch, Caglianone was then 90 feet away from an insurance run for the Gators.

So they went with a little safety squeeze, with shortstop — and cleanup hitter — Colby Shelton getting the bunt down perfectly to bring Caglianone home:

The Gators plated three more runs in the inning, one coming on a double from Luke Heyman and two more from a single off the bat of Ashton Wilson. By the time the inning came to a merciful end for the Wildcats, the Gators had a ten-run lead and could start thinking about taking on Texas A&M in the nightcap.

But they were not done, because Caglianone had some history to make:

The likely top-five selection in the upcoming MLB Draft launched a solo shot in the bottom of the sixth, for his 75th career home run at Florida. That put him atop the school’s all-time leader list, topping the mark set by Matt LaPorta during his time in Gainesville, who was in attendance to tip his hat to the new school leader.

By the time the final out was recorded, the Gators had hung 15 runs on the board, for the final score of 15-4.

They’ll look to keep their title dreams alive later tonight, as they take on Texas A&M. The Aggies have yet to lose in Omaha, and defeated Florida 3-2 in the opening game for both teams on Saturday.

We’ll see if the Gators needed to save some runs for tonight’s game in just a few hours.

Men’s College World Series: Kentucky-Florida moved to Wednesday due to severe weather men,s,college,world,series,kentucky,florida,moved,to,wednesday,due,to,severe,weather,sbnation,com,front-page,college-baseball,college-world-series,ncaa-baseball-tournament

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Florida and Kentucky are set to square off at the Men’s College World Series, in a do-or-die game for both teams.

Now they will have another night to think about what needs to be done.

With the threat of severe weather looming over Omaha — forecasters are calling for thunderstorms and heavy rain — Tuesday night’s elimination game between the two teams has been moved to Wednesday morning.

That sets up a baseball triple-header in Omaha Wednesday, and a double-header for the team that wins the rescheduled game between Kentucky and Florida. Wednesday’s new schedule for the Men’s College World Series is as follows, with all times Eastern:

  • Game 10 Kentucky vs. Florida | 11 a.m.
  • Game 11 Tennessee vs. the winner of North Carolina/Florida State | 3 p.m.
  • Game 12 between Texas A&M vs. the winner of Kentucky/Florida | 7 p.m.

Both Florida and Kentucky are 1-1 in Omaha. The Gators are coming off a 5-4 win over NC State that kept their season alive, while the Wildcats just dropped their first game in Omaha to Texas A&M, losing by a final score of 5-1.

The SEC rivals played one series this year in early May, and the Wildcats won two of those three games in Gainesville.

Men’s College World Series: Jac Caglianone and Brandon Neely extend Florida’s season men,s,college,world,series,jac,caglianone,and,brandon,neely,extend,florida,s,season,sbnation,com,front-page,college-baseball,college-world-series,ncaa-baseball-tournament

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With Florida’s season on the line, Jac Caglianone took the bump for the Gators in an elimination game against NC State. However, a shaky outing saw Caglianone last just one inning for Florida.

He still found a way to help extend Florida’s season at least one more game.

Caglianone was lifted after allowing a run during a shaky first inning, which included both a walk and a hit batter. But the two-way star for the Gators came through with a massive blast in the top of the second, a three-run blast to right that was part of a four-run second inning for Florida.

Caglianone’s three-run shot came on this 91-mph pitch on the inner half of the plate, that the lefty slugger was able to turn on in a hurry:

The home run was clocked at 116 miles per hour off Caglianone’s bat. It also made the Gators two-way star the first starting pitcher to homer in the MCWS since Tim Hudson accomplished that feat for Auburn back in 1997.

Yes, that Tim Hudson, who is now the head coach at his alma mater.

Of course, Caglianone’s short outing on the bump meant the Gators needed to go deep into their bullpen to outlast the gators. Caglianone was lifted in favor of Cade Fisher, who lasted four innings and allowed three earned runs to pick up the victory. But after Jake Clemente pitched a scoreless sixth inning, Brandon Neely came on to start the seventh for the Gators.

Neely closed things out, going the distance for the rare three-inning save. The Florida right hander allowed just one hit and one walk, striking out six over three nearly-perfect innings for his fifth save of the season. The three innings of work brought Neely’s total innings pitched over the postseason to 21, meaning Neely has pitched 25% of the team’s 84 innings in the postseason.

Following the game, Neely praised the entire team, and Florida’s toughness:

Florida’s season is now extended by at least one game, as the Gators await the loser of tonight’s contest between Texas A&M and Kentucky.

Men’s College World Series: Jace LaViolette and Texas A&M deny Florida men,s,college,world,series,jace,laviolette,and,texas,a,m,deny,florida,sbnation,com,front-page,college-baseball,college-world-series,ncaa-baseball-tournament

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Cade Kurland thought he had done it.

After a delay of over four hours due to severe weather in the Omaha area, the final game of the opening round of the 2024 Men’s College World Series between Florida and Texas A&M finally got underway after 11:00 p.m. local time. The Aggies took a 3-2 lead into the top of the ninth inning, powered by a pair of runs in the second inning and one more in the third as they built a 3-0 lead.

But the Gators did not go quietly into the night. Florida put a pair of runs on the board in the top of the seventh inning to cut the Aggies’ advantage to just 3-2, and that was the score when the Gators came to bat in the top of the ninth inning. After Brody Donay struck out to start the ninth, center fielder Michael Robertson — a hero for Florida in the 2023 MCWS double-elimination round — got on board with a single to bring Kurland to the plate, representing the go-ahead run.

After the count got to 1-1, Kurland got a backdoor breaking ball that he drove to right, putting everything he had into the swing.

It was almost enough:

Instead of the two-run shot he thought it was off the bat, right fielder Jace LaViolette used every inch of his 6’6 frame to climb the wall in right field, and deny Kurland of the go-ahead blast.

Leaving the Florida second baseman stunned:

LaViolette might have had a quiet night at the plate, going 0-for-2 with a pair of walks, but he put up monster numbers at the dish for the Aggies this season, slashing .311/.453/.751 with 28 home runs.

And he can flash the leather when he needs to.

Men’s College World Series: Mitchell Daly and Kentucky walk it off against NC State men,s,college,world,series,mitchell,daly,and,kentucky,walk,it,off,against,nc,state,sbnation,com,front-page,college-baseball,college-world-series,ncaa-baseball-tournament

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For the first time in the history of the Men’s College World Series, the opening two games ended in walk-off fashion. Vance Honeycutt’s single in the bottom of the ninth inning Friday powered UNC to a 3-2 win over Virginia, and in the nightcap, Tennessee rallied in the bottom of the ninth to overcome a three-run deficit to defeat Florida State 12-11.

If you thought that meant that Saturday’s afternoon tilt between NC State and Kentucky would not end similarly, you thought wrong.

The Wildcats and the Wolfpack could not settle things in nine innings, and the game advanced to the tenth with the score knotted at 4-4. Kentucky set NC State out in order in the top of the tenth, thanks in large part to this stunning defensive play from center fielder Ty Crittenberger:

Kentucky catcher Devin Burkes led off the bottom of the tenth with a walk, putting the potential winning run on base to start the frame. After designated hitter Nick Lopez flew out to center, Burkes tried to get into scoring position via a stolen base. But Wolfpack catcher Jacob Cozart — a potential first-round selection next month — threw a strike down to second to cut down Burkes.

But Mitchell Daly was still at the plate, even if there were two outs.

He would not make a third:

Daly turned on a hanging breaking ball, drilling it deep to left field and over the wall for a walk-off home run, the third walk-off victory in three games in Omaha. Final score: Kentucky 5, NC State 4.

Given how these games have started in Omaha, you might want to tune in tonight when Florida takes on Texas A&M.

Because you might see something special.

College World Series: Kentucky’s Nolan McCarthy gets a special message from a MLB legend after heroic slide college,world,series,kentucky,s,nolan,mccarthy,gets,a,special,message,from,a,mlb,legend,after,heroic,slide,sbnation,com,front-page,college-baseball,college-world-series,ncaa-baseball-tournament

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Kentucky’s Nolan McCarthy scored a run that will live on in the legacy of the Wildcats’ baseball program, as the outfielder scored from second base on a passed ball late in the team’s Super Regionals game against Oregon State. The run gave Kentucky a 3-2 lead in the late innings, and would hold up as the winning run.

McCarthy’s heads-up play included a head-first slide that reminded many of something you would see from the legendary Pete Rose. Watch as the Kentucky outfielder notices that the pitcher is not covering home plate, and then lunges into Wildcats’ lore:

Among those who were reminded of Rose? Doug Flynn, a Kentucky alum and a former teammate of “Charlie Hustle” who won two World Series titles as a teammate of Rose’s on the Cincinnati Reds. Flynn reached out to Rose via text, including a picture of McCarthy’s slide, and Rose returned the message, with one of his own for McCarthy:

“Tell him to keep having fun. However, the only way to have fun is to win. Everybody’s in a better mood when you win. You can’t win every game but you should want to,” Rose texted.” Field, hit, be a good baserunner. Don’t care who you are. Three-for-10 and you’re having a good day. Play some good defense and have fun.

“I made 10,000 outs so don’t worry about it.”

McCarthy and the rest of the Wildcats are in the middle of their first game in Omaha against NC State, and perhaps Charlie Hustle is watching along with the rest of us.