For all that went wrong early for Tennessee baseball, Christian Moore made it right | Estes
OMAHA, Neb. — Three rapid observations from Tennessee baseball’s 12-11 comeback win Friday night over Florida State in its opening game of the 2024 College World Series at Charles Schwab Field.
Have a night, Christian Moore
Wasn’t enough that Tennessee second baseman Christian Moore had hit for the cycle in his first four at-bats of this CWS. With the Vols down to their final out in the ninth inning, Moore doubled to set up Blake Burke’s two-run single to tie the game at 11. Then Dylan Dreiling won it.
My goodness . . .
What an incredible, heart-stopping late turnaround to what had been a less-than-stellar debut for these Vols. They needed every bit of their powerful offense to salvage a night’s worth of defensive blunders and poor pitching.
And then there's the sheer dominance at the plate by Moore.
In those first four at-bats, he tripled (his first of the season), doubled, singled, then mashed a 440-foot home run to the deepest part of an infamously spacious ballpark.
Moore became only the second player in CWS history — and first since 1956 — to hit for the cycle.
What a stunning achievement.
And what a tremendous start to this CWS for Moore, who went 2-for-13 in Omaha last season.
For all that went wrong Friday for the Vols (and we’ll get into that), their offense was outstanding, far better than it had been in Omaha lately. In five previous CWS games under coach Tony Vitello, the Vols had only six extra-base hits and one home run.
Against the Seminoles, the Vols finished with 18 hits and overcame a late 11-7 deficit.
Ugly start for Vols
On Thursday, Florida State coach Link Jarrett was asked about Mike Martin, the Seminoles’ legendary coach who passed away earlier this year. Jarrett said he still hears Martin’s voice, stressing three fundamentals: "I can hear, ‘Pitching, defense and baserunning. That’s what this is about.’”
On Friday, Tennessee did none of the above well.
Pitching and defense especially were disasters in the early innings as the Seminoles turned a second-inning 4-1 deficit into a 9-4 lead just two innings later.
Tennessee was on its fourth pitcher before starting the fourth inning.
Yes, the pitching was bad (more below). But the Vols’ defense was worse. Way too much early sloppiness in the field. And on routine plays, too. The costliest was Burke's inability to field a low throw at first base from Dean Curley on what would have been an inning-ending double play. Instead, FSU was able to tack on three more runs in a six-run third inning.
The pitching? Still a concern
Tennessee’s tactic of using pitcher Chris Stamos to start a series and then turn quickly to AJ Causey has worked well this season. It didn’t against FSU.
Causey allowed five runs in 1⅔ innings, struggling with his command and getting hit hard. He was chased in the third inning, leaving more than six innings for the bullpen to have to throw against a stellar Seminoles lineup — in a tournament that just started.
The setup is far from ideal as the Vols try to hang around in Omaha.
Reach Tennessean sports columnist Gentry Estes at gestes@tennessean.com and on the X platform (formerly known as Twitter) @Gentry_Estes.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Tennessee baseball Game 1 at College World Series rallies vs FSU
