Although it nearly slipped away in the final innings, Tennessee baseball has finally won its national championship.
The Volunteers held on late Monday night in Omaha to officially close out the Men’s College World Series and win their first-ever national title. The Vols defeated Texas A&M 6-5 in Game 3 of the series at Charles Schwab Field, marking their second straight victory and completing their title run.
They are now the first No. 1 seed to win the tournament since Miami did so in 1999, when the current format was first introduced.
Tennessee continues to hang in there after the A&M meet
After forcing a decisive game Sunday night with a late rally, the Volunteers took the lead early in Game 3.
Christian Moore kicked things off with a solo shot over the left field wall in the first inning in what was his sixth leadoff home run of the season.
Texas A&M rallied in the third after Gavin Grahovac responded with a perfect RBI single to left field. However, Tennessee struck back with a sacrifice fly by Dylan Dreiling and an RBI single by Dean Curley in the bottom half of the inning to immediately take the lead again.
The Aggies had great opportunities 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 successfully got them out of both innings unscathed, setting up Dreiling’s two-run homer in the bottom of the seventh.
That shot suddenly put Tennessee ahead by four.
Dreiling, who was named the Most Outstanding Player of the Men’s College World Series, hit a home run in every game in Omaha.
Tennessee added another before the end of the inning after Kavares Tears hit a deep shot off the right field wall, just allowing Hunter Ensley to score on a ridiculous play at home. Ensley barely made it to the tag at the plate, and the point stood after a Texas A&M challenge.
The Aggies finally rallied in the final two innings, but it simply came too late. They scored two in the eighth and then two more in the ninth – after Jackson Appel hit an RBI single and later came home on a wild pitch with two outs. But Aaron Combs successfully closed out the ninth to seal the one-run victory.
The Aggies, who entered the tournament as the No. 3 seed and also looking for their first championship, appeared to be on their way to clinching the series victory on Sunday. After Texas A&M rolled to a 9-5 victory in Game 1 of the series on Saturday, the Aggies took a 1-0 lead in the seventh inning of Sunday’s Game 2. Then Tennessee’s bats finally came alive.
The Vols burst out late behind a pair of two-run homers from Dreiling and Cal Stark to push them to the 4-1 win and force Monday’s Game 3. Dreiling’s home run was actually the first time that Texas A&M, which had been undefeated in the tournament until that point, had trailed in a game in Omaha.
That was enough to power Monday’s dominant victory and send the Vols back to Knoxville with a trophy.
