The 2024 College World Series officially kicked off Friday in Omaha, Nebraska, with national No. 1 seed Tennessee rallying against Florida State in the nightcap for a walk-off victory. The first game of the afternoon also ended dramatically, with North Carolina topping Virginia with a walk-off single.
Tennessee 12, Florida State 11
Dylan Dreiling’s single in the bottom of the ninth capped a comeback win for Tennessee and scored Blake Burke in a thrilling walk-off win over Florida State.
The Seminoles appeared to put the game away in the seventh on a two-run double by Marco Dinges off Andrew Behnke for an 11-7 lead. But Connor Whittaker gave up two runs in the eighth on a single by Dylan Dreiling. Then Brennan Oxford tried to close the game in the ninth, but Burke’s two-run single tied the game at 11–11.
Florida State apparently took control with a six-run third inning. Trailing 4-1, the Seminoles’ first five batters reached base against Vols pitcher AJ Causey, resulting in two runs.
Causey then walked Jaxson West with the bases loaded to tie the score at 4-4. An error by Tennessee Burke at first base and an RBI triple by FSU’s Cam Smith resulted in a 7-4 lead. The Seminoles piled on in the fourth with a two-run homer by Jaime Ferrer for a 9-4 margin.
Tennessee squandered FSU’s lead in the fifth on a two-run shot by Kavares Tears, followed by a solo homer by Moore. With the home run, Moore hit for the cycle, the second player to do so in College World Series history.
The Volunteers initially looked like they would easily dispatch the Seminoles in their opener. FSU took a 1–0 lead in the first inning on a wild pitch by Causey, but Tennessee’s first four batters reached base in the bottom half of the inning to take a 2–1 lead. The Vols added two more in the second for a seemingly comfortable 4-1 lead.
The Seminoles roared back and took what appeared to be an insurmountable lead, but that just gave Tennessee a chance at its first walk-off win of the season. The Volunteers will play North Carolina on Sunday at 7:00 PM ET. on ESPN2.
North Carolina 3, Virginia 2
North Carolina picked up its first win of the 2024 College World Series with a 3-2 walk-off victory over Virginia.
The Tar Heels claimed the win with some heroics from junior midfielder Vance Honeycutt. With the score tied 2-2 in the bottom of the ninth, Honeycutt singled and Jackson Van De Brake scored.
Honeycutt also hit a walk-off home run to give UNC a victory in the Super Regionals last weekend.
The Tar Heels got the first run of the day in the first inning, with a groundout by right fielder Anthony Donofrio to send home left fielder Casey Cook. In the third inning, the Cavaliers’ hot bats set up an RBI from first baseman Henry Ford to tie things up.
Strong defense on both sides kept the score tied for a while before Virginia took the lead in the sixth inning with a sacrifice fly by shortstop Griff O’Ferrall.
In the seventh inning, UNC found its response when Cook hit an RBI double – with some help from a bad throw from Virginia left fielder Harrison Didawick.
The score remained 2-2 through the final two innings, until Honeycutt saved the day for the Tar Heels.
Overall, the defense made this game. Jason DeCaro, a freshman starting pitcher for the Tar Heels, recorded six strikeouts in five innings before being pulled. Evan Blanco, a Cavaliers sophomore, lasted seven innings and struck out four before leaving the mound.
With the College World Series now a double elimination, the Cavaliers have one more chance to stay in the tournament with a game against Florida State on Sunday at 2:00 PM ET. The game will be broadcast on ESPN.
