Omaha, Neb. – Coach Tony Vitello jumped into the stands for a group hug with the group of Tennessee fans who invaded Omaha. His players took a lap around the warning track while high-fiving. Cavares sat in right field enjoying the moment with a towel over his eyes in tears.
Tennessee finally won its first national championship in baseball.
Christian Moore hit a leadoff homer, Dylan Dreiling went deep for the third time in three games and Tennessee avoided anxious late moments to clinch the title with a 6-5 victory over Texas A&M on Monday night in Game 3 of the Men’s College World Series Final . ,
The Volunteers bounced back from the Game 1 loss to win two in a row and become the first No. 1 national seed to win an NCAA Tournament title since Miami in 1999.
“Kids these days are tough. They’ll do whatever you tell them to do,” Vitello said. “I know our fans got us through that tough inning. That was a group effort on the mound. If you’re in the SEC, you’re going to be a superstar player, but you also need to be a good teammate. , and that’s what these people were.”
Tennessee (60-13) held the Aggies’ offense – averaging 8.5 runs per game for the season – to six runs in the last 20 innings of the final, with Xander Secrist and Nate Sneed doing the heavy lifting on Monday before the Aggies came back. To score four runs and get the tying run at the plate in the ninth.
Aaron Combs struck out Hayden Schott and Ted Burton to end the game and begin the Tennessee celebration behind the pitcher’s mound.
Tennessee had made runs at the title before. The Vols reached the MCWS in 2021 and went 0–2. The following year they were the No. 1 national seed and lost at home in a three-game super regional. They came back to Omaha last year and won a game. And they bounced back again this year and made the finals for the first time since the 1951 team lost to Oklahoma in the championship game.
Minutes after the final pitch, Vitello, 45, hugged his father, Greg, a longtime successful high school baseball and football coach in St. Louis.
“I felt like I was the dad and he was the baby because he wouldn’t stop crying,” Vitello said. “I had to rub some dirt on it.”
The Vols are the eighth Southeastern Conference school to win a national title in baseball. Together, those eight have created 16 titles. The SEC has won five consecutive championships, all by different schools, and 10 of the last 15.
Texas A&M threatened to overcome 3–1 deficits in the sixth and seventh innings, but Snead got the Vols out of trouble both times.
Dreiling, the MCWS Most Outstanding Player, connected for his 23rd homer of the season, and Hunter Ensley survived Jackson Appel’s tag at the plate as he scored on Teare’s double to make it 6–1 in the eighth. Since the MCWS best-of-three finals began in 2003, Dreiling is the only player to homer in three games.
“I blacked out again at that moment,” Dreiling said. “I know on the first pitch I overswinged on the heater. I told myself to just look at the ball deep and put a good swing on something. They gave me a changeup up the middle. I tried to stay back and take that hit.” But he threw a good swing.”
Walls’ two home runs on Monday tied him with the 1998 LSU team for the most home runs in the NCAA Tournament (37) and gave him 184 runs for the season, four behind the 1997 LSU team’s NCAA record of 188.
Texas A&M (53-15) caused some concern for the Vols in the eighth, scoring twice and threatening to get more with two runners on base with one out. Kirby Connell struck out Kayden Kent on three pitches and struck out Ryan Targack on four pitches. Connell pumped his left fist twice, yelled and crossed the third-base line on his way back to the dugout.
The Aggies scored twice in the top of the ninth, the second run coming home on a wild pitch, making the game a one-run tie before Combs struck out.
“It’s a tough one to swallow,” Aggies coach Jim Schlossnagle said. “You’ve come this far, you want to win your last game.”
Fans in attendance in Tennessee Orange included Volunteers football great Peyton Manning, Vols football coach Josh Heupel, Vols men’s basketball coach Rick Barnes and country music artist Morgan Wallen. The temperature at first pitch was a humid 98 degrees, with most Vols fans in direct sunlight on the third-base side by mid-inning and in the outfield bleachers by sunset.
Moore took his mind off the heat for at least a moment when he took Justin Lamkin’s fourth pitch, an elevated fastball, off the back wall of the left-field bullpen for his team-leading 34th homer of the season. removed. Moore, who hit for the cycle in the Vols’ win over Florida State in their MCWS opener, batted .370 (10 for 27) with 2 homers, 2 triples and 2 doubles in Omaha.
The Aggies overcame season-ending injuries, including an injury to star outfielder Braden Montgomery, to reach their first MCWS final. Their 53 wins were their most since 1993.
“I think Texas A&M is a place that should be competing in the SEC. Should be competing to host regionals. And everyone thinks Omaha is an entitlement. It’s not,” Schlossnagle said. “You have to earn your way there and play well in the NCAA Tournament.”
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
Discover more from news2source
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
