How it Happened: Late homers power Tennessee past Texas A&M 4-1, stay alive in CWS Finals
OMAHA, Neb. – No. 3 Texas A&M held a 1-0 lead over No. 1 Tennessee for the first six innings Sunday afternoon before the Vols blasted a pair of two-run homers in the seventh and eighth innings to rally past the Aggies in a 4-1 win in Game 2 of the College World Series Finals at Charles Schwab Field.
With the victory, Tennessee (59-13) forces a decisive Game 3 Monday evening at 7 p.m. Eastern Time (TV: ESPN). It will be a winner-take-all stakes against Texas A&M (53-14), with the winner claiming its first national championship.
Dylan Dreiling’s two-run blast in the seventh handed the Vols their first lead of the ballgame before Cal Stark’s two-run homer that followed in the eighth provided some much needed insurance. Jace LaViolette’s solo home run in the first inning for the Aggies was the only run of the ballgame for the opening two-thirds.
Aaron Combs (3-1) picked up the win in relief for Tennessee, tossing four innings of the ballgame. He allowed no runs and gave up only three hits while striking out five and walking two batters. Kaiden Wilson (0-2) took home the loss in relief, allowing four runs on three hits (two home runs) in 2.1 innings of work. Nate Snead picked up the final three outs for his sixth save of the season.
Tennessee remains alive in Omaha and will compete for the national championship on Monday night, but first, here’s how it all went down in Game 2 of the College World Series Finals.
Postgame Video
Scoring Summary
Bot 1: Jace LaViolette sends a solo home run over the right field wall. Aggies 1-0
Top 7: Dylan Dreiling sent a two-run homer to right field. Vols 2-1
Top 8: Cal Stark drilled a two-run home run to left field. Vols 4-1
The Final Stats
2024 College World Series Bracket
2024 College World Series Results
Friday, June 14
North Carolina 3, Virginia 2 | Final Stats
Tennessee 12, Florida State 11 | Final Stats
Saturday, June 15
Kentucky 5, NC State 4 (10 inn) | Final Stats
Texas A&M 3, Florida 2 | Final Stats
Sunday, June 16
Florida State 7, Virginia 3 | Final Stats | Elimination Game
Tennessee 6, North Carolina 1| Final Stats
Monday, June 17
Florida 5, NC State 4 | Final Stats | Elimination Game
Texas A&M 5, Kentucky 1 | Final Stats
Tuesday, June 18
Florida State 5, North Carolina 1 | Final Stats | Elimination Game
Florida vs. Kentucky | Postponed (Rain)
Wednesday, June 19
Florida 15, Kentucky 4 | Final Stats | Kentucky Eliminated
Tennessee 7, Florida State 2 | Final Stats | FSU Eliminated
Texas A&M 6, Florida 0 | Final Stats | ESPN | Florida Eliminated
Saturday, June 22
Texas A&M 9, Tennessee 5 | Final Stats
Sunday, June 23
Tennessee 4, Texas A&M 1 | Final Stats
Monday, June 24 (if necessary)
Texas A&M vs. Tennessee | 7 pm ET
