Tennessee Athletics
OMAHA, Neb. – No. 1 Tennessee used a stellar performance from its pitching staff and scored four late runs to earn a hard-fought 4-1 win over No. 3 Texas A&M on Sunday afternoon at Charles Schwab Field, forcing a winner-take-all game three on Monday night that will decide the 2024 national champion.
The Volunteers handed the Aggies (53-14) their first loss of the NCAA Tournament as they were on a nine-game winning streak that started after their 7-4 loss to UT in the SEC Tournament back on May 23.
The Volunteers entered the seventh inning trailing 1-0 despite having at least one runner reach base in five of the first six innings. UT was finally able to break through in the seventh when Dylan Dreiling launched a 1-1 pitch over the bullpen in right field for a two-run homer to give the Vols a 2-1 lead.
Through the Vols' five Men's College World Series games, Dreiling leads the team with a .500 batting average (11-for-22), two home runs and eight RBIs.
Cal Stark followed Dreiling's lead with a two-run, two-out blast of his own in the top of the eighth inning to add some insurance.
Tennessee (59-13) got another solid start from junior righthander Drew Beam, who struck out seven and allowed just one run on three hits over four innings.
UP NEXT
A national champion will be crowned on Monday night when Tennessee and Texas A&M meet in a winner-take-all game three. First pitch is slated for 6 p.m. CT (7 p.m. ET) and the contest will be televised on ESPN.