The matchup is set.
For the first time in the modern era of the NCAA Tournament, Tennessee is headed to the College World Series championship series. The Volunteers last appeared in the title series way back in 1951, before the NCAA adopted the preliminary rounds of the NCAA Tournament.
This time they’ve come all the way from the regional rounds and are one of the last of two teams standing. Once again it’ll be an all-SEC final, with Texas A&M emerging from Bracket 2. The Aggies took care of Florida on Wednesday night, moving out of their side of the bracket with an unblemished 3-0 mark.
Tennessee breezed past Florida State on Wednesday afternoon to advance, jumping out to a big lead and never looking back. Zander Sechrist was brilliant on the mound, holding the Seminoles to just two late runs in his outing. Sechrist worked into the seventh inning, holding Florida State scoreless until giving up a couple of solo shots. The left-hander is now 4-0 with a 1.23 ERA over his last five starts.
Blake Burke powered the offense with a 3-for-5 performance, which included a cherry-on-top solo blast to lead off the ninth inning.
And now it’s onto the College World Series finals.
Tennessee and Texas A&M move on to play a best of three series in Omaha on Saturday, Sunday and (if needed) Monday. It’s the third time in the last four seasons that the finals will feature two teams from the SEC. The Aggies and Volunteers played back in the SEC Tournament, with Tennessee winning 7-4.
The series will get started on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. ET on ESPN. Game two will take place Sunday at 2 p.m. ET on ABC. Should the series go three games, Monday’s winner-take-all matchup would begin at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN.