OMAHA, Neb. – Texas A&M used a leadoff home run to grab the early lead and never looked back as they defeated No. 1 Tennessee 9-5 in game one of the Men's College World Series finals at Charles Schwab Field on Saturday night.
The Aggies scored two in the first then scored five more runs in the top of the third to build an early 7-1 lead.
Texas A&M (53-13) added two more runs in the top of the seventh on a home run to extend its lead to 9-2.
Tennessee UT (58-13) responded with three runs in the bottom of the seventh on back-to-back home runs from Dylan Dreiling and Hunter Ensley to narrow the gap to four runs, but that was as close as they would get.
Tennessee threatened in the ninth, getting a pair of hits from Billy Amick and Dreiling, but back-to-back strikeouts ended the threat.
Dreiling tied a career high with four hits for the second time during this MCWS run, finishing the night 4-for-5 with two RBIs.
STAT OF THE GAME
Dylan Dreiling had never recorded more than three hits in a game. The sophomore outfielder from Hays has now done it twice in the last four games and leads the team with a .588 batting average, 10 hits and six RBIs in Omaha.
UP NEXT
Tennessee will now have to fight off elimination in game two of the series, which is slated for a 1 p.m. CT start on ABC. The Vols must win to force a winner-take-all game three between the two teams on Monday night.