OMAHA, Neb. (WATE) — Tennessee baseball is bringing a national championship back to Rocky Top for the first time in program history. The Vols defeated Texas A&M in game three of the College World Series Finals by a score of 6-5 to capture Tennessee’s first championship in any sport since 2009.
Tennessee started strong with a 1-2-3 inning from Zander Sechrist, which included a strikeout of Jace LaViolette. Then the Vols took the lead in the bottom of the first, thanks to a solo shot from Christian Moore. His 34th home run of the season gave Tennessee a 1-0 lead.
The Vols continued to pressure Texas A&M pitcher, Justin Lamkin. Blake Burke sent a single to right, while Dylan Dreiling drew a walk to put two runners on with two outs. However, Kavares Tears grounded out to first to end the threat.
Hayden Schott led off the second with a single, but Sechrist forced two fly outs and struck out Ali Camarillo to preserve Tennessee’s one-run advantage.
Travis Chestnut placed a perfect bunt and then Cal Stark’s throw to first was off the mark, allowing Chestnut to advance to second on the error. Chestnut then stole third. Gavin Grahovac then sent a single to left to bring Chestnut home and tie the game at one.
LaViolette then followed up with a single to put two runners on with one out. Jackson Appel grounded into a double play to end the inning and leave the runners stranded.
Tennessee regained its one-run lead in the third. Blake Burke led off the inning with a double to the centerfield wall. Burke advanced to third on a groundout from Billy Amick, and then ran home on a Dreiling sacrifice fly. Hunter Ensley and Tears followed up with back-to-back singles and Texas A&M decided to make a pitching change after Lamkin allowed five hits and two runs in 2.2 innings.
Josh Stewart took over on the mound, but Dean Curley solved him quickly. The freshman hit a single to left and Ensley crossed home for the 3-1 lead.
Sechrist struck out the side in the top of the fifth, giving him six strikeouts through five innings of work. After back-to-back singles in the sixth, Zander Sechrist’s day was done. The senior allowed just one run while striking out 7 in 5.1 innings.
Nate Snead took the mound with two runners on and one out. The Vols got the second out on a fielder’s choice, while Burke caught a laser for the final out to prevent any damage.
Curley hit a double off of Aggies’ reliever Evan Aschenbeck and then advanced to third on a Cannon Peebles fly-out. However, Stark grounded out to first for the final out and left Curley stranded.
The Aggies threatened in the seventh, with two runners on and just one out. Snead forced a fly out for the second out, and LaViolette grounded out for the third and final out of the inning.
The Vols offense added three more runs in the bottom of the seventh. With two outs, Amick singled. Dreiling brought him home on a two-run shot to extend Tennessee’s lead to 5-1. It marked Dreiling’s third home run of the CWS final, as he hit one out of the park in all three games.
Hunter Ensley then extended the inning with a single through the left side, and Tears doubled to bring him home to give the Vols a 6-1 lead.
Dylan Loy replaced Snead on the mound in the eighth. With a runner on and no outs, Loy threw back-to-back wild pitches to advance Jackson Appel to third. Hayden Schott brought him home on a single up the middle to cut into Tennessee’s lead, 6-2. Caden Sorrell followed up with a double to score another run to make it a 6-3 ballgame.
After giving up two runs, Loy was replaced by Kirby Connell on the mound. After giving up a single to put two runners on, Connell struck out the next two batters to get out of the jam.
Junior right hander Aaron Combs took over in the ninth inning and gave up a leadoff double to Grahovac before striking out LaViolette. After a wild pitch advanced the runner to third base, Appel hit an RBI single to bring the Aggies within two runs. He then struck out Schott.
Appel was able to advance to second before balk advanced him to third base. A wild pitch allowed him to score and make it a one-run game.
Combs struck out Ted Burton to seal the historic victory.
Tennessee is the first national No. 1 seed to win the championship since Miami in 1999. The Vols are also the first team to win 60 games and the national title since Wichita State in 1989.
