Men's College World Series Finals: Tennessee bats come alive to force a decisive Game 3 vs. Texas A&M

No team scored more runs in Division I college baseball than Tennessee did in 2024. But the Volunteers couldn't break through until the seventh inning against Texas A&M in Game 2 of the College World Series Finals on Sunday.

Left fielder Dylan Dreiling hit a two-run home run off Kaiden Wilson for a 2–1 lead. Catcher Cal Stark added his own two-run shot in the eighth to increase Tennessee's lead to 4–1 that held up as the final score.

"That was an SEC war, or just a postseason war," Tennessee head coach Tony Vitello said after the game.

With the win, the Vols force a decisive Game 3 at Omaha's Charles Schwab Field on Monday night at 7 p.m. ET. Tennessee will attempt to become the first No. 1 national seed since Miami in 1999 (when the NCAA baseball tournament's current format was first introduced) to win the College World Series.

Facing elimination in the best-of-three series after A&M won Saturday's game 9-5, the Vols broke out their black jerseys in which they had a 9–1 record this season. Make that 10–1 now.

Dreiling, a sophomore, was Tennessee's third-leading home run hitter coming into Omaha with 19, alongside a .330 batting average and 1.153 OPS. Stark slugged nine homers in his senior season, batting .234 with a .921 OPS. His home run on Sunday was his first hit of the College World Series.

The Aggies threatened to tie the game in the bottom of the ninth with two consecutive singles. But Vols reliever Nate Snead got Ali Camarillo to ground into a fielder's choice at second base, then retired the next two batters on flyouts to close out the win.

Key stats

Texas A&M's Chris Cortez took over in the second inning after opener Zane Badmaev. Despite five walks, the junior right-hander allowed no runs and two hits while striking out seven against the best offense in Division I college baseball.

Vols starter Drew Beam struck out seven batters in his four innings, allowing only one run, three hits and two walks. Surprisingly, the offense couldn't score for him while he was on the mound. The junior right-hander went 8–2 with a 4.16 ERA in 16 starts, notching 80 strikeouts in 88 2/3 innings.

Yet Aaron Combs kept the Aggies in check until the Tennessee lineup broke through. The junior reliever pitched four scoreless innings, allowing three hits with five strikeouts.

"Combs, to me, is the story of the game. Two big swings and Combs shut us down," Texas A&M coach Jim Schlossnagle told reporters. "He did a great job. Give him a lot of credit."

Texas A&M lived on the edge

The Aggies are pursuing the first NCAA baseball championship in school history and opened the scoring with a home run from outfielder Jace LaViolette. The sophomore led A&M with 28 home runs and 75 RBI coming into Sunday, batting .315 with a 1.220 OPS.

Down 1–0, Tennessee twice had bases-loaded opportunities with two outs but couldn't score a run on either of them.

In the second, a throwing error by Camarillo at shortstop put the bases full but pitcher Chris Cortez ended the threat by getting Vols slugger Christian Moore to ground out to second base. Then, in the fourth, two walks by Cortez loaded the bases again and escaped with another grounder to second base by Blake Burke.

The Vols had another chance to tie the score or take the lead in the sixth when Cortez allowed a single and walk with one out. Lefty Kaiden Wilson came in and got catcher Cal Stark to ground into an inning-ending double play.

Texas A&M and Tennessee play a decisive Game 3 of the 2024 Division I NCAA baseball championship on Monday at 7 p.m. ET. The broadcast will be televised on ESPN.