Tag: tennessee

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.

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Friday night’s game between the Tennessee Volunteers and the Florida State Seminoles in the Men’s College World Series has yet to go final.

But a player has already made some history.

Tennessee infielder Christian Moore hit for the cycle in the game, becoming the first player to accomplish that feat since Jerry Kindall hit for the cycle back in 1956.

Kindall and Moore are now the only two players in Men’s College World Series to ever hit for the cycle.

Moore’s first hit came in the bottom of the first inning, when the Tennessee second baseman tripled to lead off the inning for the Volunteers. Then in the bottom of the second Moore checked the double off his “cycle to-do list,” as he laced a line drive down the left-field line to drive in a run:

Moore came all the way around the bases on a throwing error, but the play went into the books as a double.

In the fourth inning Moore laced a single to right, improving to 3-for-3 on the night. But that still left the infielder a home run shy of the cycle.

Moore checked that box in the sixth inning:

As noted by Tennessee’s social media department, Moore’s cycle is just the sixth in program history, and the first for the school in the postseason.

Moore is considered one of the top prospects in the upcoming MLB Draft, and in our most recent mock draft we had Moore coming off the board with the No. 21 pick to the Minnesota Twins.

After tonight, that might be too low.