College World Series Recap: Vols go deep twice late, beat Texas A&M 4-1

Texas A&M led 1-0 for six innings until Dylan Dreiling hit a two-run home run in the seventh to give Tennessee a 2-1 lead, then Cal Stark broke his hitless streak in Omaha with another two-run dinger in the eighth, while Drew Beam and Aaron Combs combined for eight innings of 6H, 1R ball in the Vols’ 4-1 win to force game three.

UT’s offense spent most of the game getting runners on base but being unable to convert any of those chances into runs.

Moore had a lead-off single in the first inning, but Burke lined out, then Amick lined out, Moore stole second to get into scoring position and Dreiling struck out to end the top of the first without a run.

The Aggies popped Tennessee starter Drew Beam for a one-out, solo home run, but then Beam struck out the next two batters to end the first frame with A&M up 1-0.

UT loaded the bases in the top of the second thanks to a lead-off single, a walk and an Aggie error, but Moore grounded out up the middle to end the half inning and left the bases loaded.

Beam went on to sit down all three batters in the second via strikeout, then gave up a single in the third but picked a man off and struck out two more. In the fourth, he worked around a lead-off walk to get the next three out without allowing a run.

A&M brought Chris Cortez in after a Hunter Ensley single in the second, and he threw some double-digit number of fastballs that danced around the plate and came in at 100 MPH-plus that he paired with a wipeout slider and the combination just baffled the Vols’ hitters. He struck out seven through the fifth but walked four and gave up a hit. Tennessee couldn’t capitalize on the free passes as it stranded eight runners and were 0-13 with runners on base through five.

The Aggies’ offense finally got to Beam in the bottom of the fifth with a lead-off walk followed by a single. Tony Vitello brought in Aaron Combs, who struck out the first two batters and then Cal Stark turned in his seventh back pick of the season to end the inning.

In the T6, Dean Curley hit a one-out single, then advanced to second on a wild pitch. Cannon Peebles worked a four-pitch walk to give the Vols another chance with multiple men on base, but Stark ground out into a double play to end the frame with another zero for the Tennessee offense. That last out for Stark put him at 0-16 since UT arrived in Omaha. After Peebles walked, A&M gave Cortez the hook and brought in freshman Kaiden Wilson.

Combs worked around a walk and a single to put up the fifth consecutive zero for the defense in the home half of the sixth. But once again, to start the seventh, the Vols got the leadoff man on base with a Moore walk — the fifth time in seven innings that UT had a man on with no outs — but Burke flew out while Moore advanced to second on the play, then Amick flew out and it looked like the Vols were going to go down without a run scored with a man in scoring position again.

But then Dylan Dreiling pulled a 1-1 fastball from Wilson out and over the fence in RF for Tennessee’s first hit with a runner on base and a 2-1 lead.

Combs struck out two more in the B7 as he kept A&M scoreless for another half inning, and then a Curley single to left-center set the table for some Stark redemption in the form of a two-run bomb to left.

Texas A&M brought some drama with them in the B8 when Combs got two outs but then allowed a single and a four-pitch walk. That brought Aggie cleanup hitter Hayden Schott to the plate as the tying run. But after a Frank Anderson mound visit, Combs threw a strike and then induced a fly-ball out to end the inning with no damage done.

In the bottom of the ninth, Combs gave up a lead-off single and immediately got pulled for Kirby Connell. Connell gave up another single, and Vitello went to Nate Snead with the tying run at the plate. But Snead shut the door with a fielder’s choice and two fly-ball outs.

Tennessee finished just 2-19 with runners on base and 1-8 with RISP, but the Aggies also managed just two hits in 13 chances with runners on and went 0-8 with RISP. All four of TN’s runs came with two outs.

The Vols escaped what looked like it was going to be a disaster of a loss to force game three tomorrow at 7 PM.