Tennessee baseball lives up to long ball reputation when it mattered most | Adams
Tennessee baseball has too many good hitters to get shut out.
You might have thought that Sunday. You might have said it. The announcers even wondered aloud about it on the ABC telecast from Charles Schwab Field in Omaha, Nebraska.
They were right to wonder. And who better to prove them right than Tennessee clutch-hitting left fielder Dylan Dreiling?
Dreiling hit a two-run home run with two out in the seventh inning to overturn a one-run Texas A&M lead as the Vols rallied for a win-or-go-home 4-1 victory over Texas A&M in the College World Series.
With the comeback win, Tennessee (59-14) forced a third game in the championship round. The Aggies and Vols will play for the national championship on Monday (7 p.m., ESPN).
The home run was Dreiling’s second big hit of the CWS. He also capped Tennessee’s four-run, ninth-inning rally over Florida State in the tournament opener with a game-winning base hit.
He didn’t end the game this time. But he woke up a surprisingly sluggish UT offense that repeatedly squandered scoring opportunities Sunday.
An inning after Dreiling smashed his 22nd home run of the season, catcher Cal Stark delivered another two-run home run.
Stark’s homer snapped a CWS slump. Dreiling’s homer continued his torrid hitting (11 hits in his last 22 at-bats)
Hits were hard to come by for most of the Vols against the Aggies, who boast one of the best pitching staffs in college baseball. Clutch hits were even harder to come by. Twice in the first four innings, Tennessee left the bases loaded with nary a run to show for it.
Reliever Chris Cortez was responsible for much of the struggles. Mixing sharp breaking pitches with a 101-mile-per-hour fastball, Cortez pitched from the second inning to the middle of the sixth. Freshman relief pitcher Kaiden Wilson followed Cortez by getting out of the jam on a double-play groundball.
Wilson, who had pitched only 10 innings all season, wasn’t up to the Dreiling challenge an inning later, though. But the Aggies pitching is more about quality than quantity. And their lack of pitching depth didn’t leave coach Jim Schlossnagle with many options.
Tennessee coach Tony Vitello didn’t need many options. Never mind how ineffective UT pitchers were in losing 9-5 to the Aggies on Saturday. Starting pitcher Drew Beam and reliever Aaron Combs were as good as ever in a must-win situation.
Beam struck out seven batters in four innings while giving up only one hit, Jace LaViolette’s first-inning home run. Reliever Aaron Combs was even better. He pitched four scoreless innings before exiting after a leadoff Aggies single in the ninth.
ADAMS: Tennessee baseball lapses have it needing 2-game comeback for CWS title
Reliever Nate Snead shut down the Aggies for the last three outs after they put their first two runners on base. That was Snead's fifth consecutive appearance without allowing a run.
The Vols will turn to another hot pitcher Monday. Zander Sechrist has been their best starting pitcher in the postseason. He pitched the Vols past Florida State and into the championship round in his last start.
Now, he will have a chance to start − and help the Vols finish what they started when they began the NCAA Tournament as the No. 1 seed.
John Adams is a senior columnist. He may be reached at 865-342-6284 or john.adams@knoxnews.com. Follow him at: twitter.com/johnadamskns.
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Tennessee baseball lives up to long ball reputation when it mattered most
