Tennessee cruises past Florida State, will face Texas A&M in CWS Finals
Vols face either Texas A&M or Florida in best of three championship series
OMAHA, Ne. (WVLT) - Tennessee defeated Florida State 7-2 on Wednesday to advance to the College World Series Finals.
It’s the second time the Vols will play for a national championship.
The Vols will face Texas A&M in the CWS Finals.
Game 1 is scheduled for Saturday at 7:30 p.m. ET, and Game 2 is set for Sunday at 2 p.m. ET. If a Game 3 is necessary, it will be at 7 p.m. Monday.
Inning by inning updates are posted below. Scoring plays will be posted in italics.
TOP FIRST INNING
Christian Moore led off the game with a walk before Blake Burke singled to put runners at the corners with no one out.
A fielder’s choice groundout plated the first run of the game | Tennessee 1, Florida State 0
Dylan Dreiling drew a one out walk, putting runners at first and second.
Hunter Ensley plated Tennessee’s second run of the day with an RBI single | Tennessee 2, Florida State 0
The RBI single forced an FSU pitching change.
Brennen Oxford replaced John Abraham.
A fielder’s choice off the bat of Kavares Tears put runners at first and third with two outs.
An error on an attempted pickoff led to Tennessee’s third run | Tennessee 3, Florida State 0
BOTTOM FIRST INNING
An error on Dean Curley gave FSU its first baserunner of the game.
A highlight reel catch by Kavares Tears in centerfield ended the inning.
TOP SECOND INNING
Christian Moore singled with two outs for his first hit of the day.
A balk moved Moore to second.
An RBI single from Blake Burke extended the Tennessee lead | Tennessee 4, Florida State 0
A single from Billy Amick extended the inning, putting runners at the corners.
Dylan Dreiling struck out looking to end the inning, stranding a pair.
BOTTOM SECOND INNING
A two out walk extended the inning.
An error by Christian Moore was erased as FSU’s Alex Faurot was thrown out trying to reach second base on the error to end the inning.
TOP THIRD INNING
The Vols were retired in order in the third.
BOTTOM THIRD INNING
Florida State registered its first hit of the day to leadoff the third.
A double down the leftfield line put runners at second and third with no outs.
Dean Curley threw out a runner at the plate on a groundball to short to preserve the Tennessee shutout.
A 3-6 double play ended the inning.
TOP FOURTH INNING
Cal Stark drew a one out walk for Tennessee’s first baserunner of the inning.
Stark scored from first on a Christian Moore RBI triple | Tennessee 5, Florida State 0
The triple was Moore’s second of the College World Series. He had just two career triples prior to the CWS beginning.
Joe Charles became FSU’s third pitcher of the day.
Billy Amick flew out to the warning track, stranding Moore at third.
BOTTOM FOURTH INNING
Dylan Dreiling made a catch while backing into the left field wall to lead off the fourth.
Zander Sechrist retired the Seminoles in order to keep the Vols lead at five.
TOP FIFTH INNING
The Volunteers went down in order in the fifth.
BOTTOM FIFTH INNING
Sechrist retired the Seminoles in order to close the fifth.
TOP SIXTH INNING
A Cal Stark strikeout ended another 1-2-3 inning for the Seminoles.
BOTTOM SIXTH INNING
A two out single was all the Seminoles could manage in the sixth.
TOP SEVENTH INNING
When Christian Moore grounded out to start the seventh, the last nine Tennessee batters were retired in order.
Billy Amick doubled with two outs for Tennessee’s first hit since the fourth inning.
Dylan Dreiling scored Amick from second with an RBI single | Tennessee 6, Florida State 0
Dreiling advanced from first to third on a stolen base and a throwing error on the throw down to second.
Hunter Ensley grounded out to end the inning.
BOTTOM SEVENTH INNING
Florida State found the scoreboard on a solo home run off the bat of James Cantu | Tennessee 6, Florida State 1
The Seminoles pulled with four on another solo shot, this time courtesy of Alex Lodise | Tennessee 6, Florida State 2
Kirby Connell replaced Zander Sechrist with one out in the seventh. Sechrist leaves as the pitcher of record. Sechrist lasted 6.1 innings, allowing two runs on five hits. He struck out three FSU batters.
Connell retired the final two batters of the inning in order.
TOP EIGHTH INNING
Dean Curley laced a double into the left-centerfield gap with one out in the eighth.
Cal Stark reached on a dropped third strike to put runners at first and third with two outs.
Christian Moore grounded out to shortstop to end the inning, stranding both runners.
BOTTOM EIGHTH INNING
A single put the leadoff runner on to open the inning.
A 1-4-3 double play erased the leadoff single.
Kirby Connell recorded his first strikeout of the day to end the inning.
TOP NINTH INNING
Blake Burke hit his first home run of the World Series to give the Vols some insurance in the ninth | Tennessee 7, Florida State 2
Burke became the fifth Vol to reach the 20 home run mark in 2024.
BOTTOM NINTH INNING
Nate Snead became Tennessee’s third pitcher of the day to open the ninth.
Snead allowed a leadoff single before recording three consecutive outs to end the ballgame.
FINAL | TENNESSEE 7, FLORIDA STATE 2
Copyright 2024 WVLT. All rights reserved.
