*Photo from WBIR*
Rocky top ends the year on top. Zander Sechrist had a strong start on the mound, Dylan Dreiling homered and drove in 3 runs, and the Tennessee Volunteers defeated the Texas A&M Aggies Monday night in Omaha to hoist the College World Series trophy.
Coming into the tournament ranked number one in the country, the Vols are the first top seed to win the national championship since Miami Florida did it in 1999. Having lost game one to the Aggies, the Volunteers won game two and then game 3 to capture the first national championship in program history.
Tennessee head coach Tony Vitello said of the championship that "It means everything for the University. It’s one of the most loyal fan bases in the country, and they’re hungry. You’ve got to feed them every now and then. And people have done it in various sports. There have been legends that have passed through there and now Dylan Dreiling is damn sure a legend."
Christian Moore got it started right away for the Vols, hitting a leadoff solo home run to left field. In the top of the 3rd, the Aggies got on the board as a single by Gavin Grahovac scored the tying run. In the bottom of the inning, a sac fly from Dreiling and an RBI single by Dean Curley made it 3-1 Vols. It stayed that way until the 7th, when a two run home run by Dreiling and an RBI double by Kavares Tears made it 6-1 Tennessee.
Hayden Schott hit an RBI single and then scored on a double off the bat of Caden Sorrell in the 8th for Texas A&M, cutting the Tennessee deficit to 6-3. In the 9th, Jackson Appel made it a 6-4 game with an RBI single to left field. It became 6-5 later in the inning as Appel crossed home on a wild pitch, but Tennessee held on from there.
Sechrist got the start for the Vols in the clincher, allowing one run on 6 hits and a walk over 5 1/3 innings, striking out 7 hitters. Nate Snead allowed one run in 1 2/3 innings, Dylan Loy allowed a run in 1/3 of an inning, Kirby Connell finished off the 8th, and Aaron Combs closed it out in the 9th.
For the Aggies, the start went to Justin Lamkin, who was charged with 3 runs on 5 hits and two walks in 2 2/3 innings of work. Josh Stewart handled the next 2 1/3 innings, not allowing a run. Evan Aschenbeck allowed 3 runs on 6 hits while striking out 3 hitters in 3 innings pitched.
Texas A&M head coach Jim Schlossnagle said after the game "Same number of hits. Same number of errors. Probably the difference in the ball game was timely hits and some of their hits were homers and ours weren't. It's tough to swallow, even when you make it this far. Everybody wants to win their last game."
After hitting a home run in all 3 games of the championship series, Dreiling was named the most outstanding player of the whole tournament as well. He also made the all tournament team along with his teammates Moore, Sechrist, and Curley.
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