OMAHA, Neb. – The letter of the day was K.
Kaeden Kent went 3 for 5 with a home run and four RBI, and the Aggie pitching staff recorded 17 strikeouts as No. 3 Texas A&M outscored top-seeded Tennessee 9-5 on Saturday evening in Game 1 of the Championship Series of the 2024 College World Series.
Game 2 of the best-of-three Championship Series between the Aggies (53-13) and the Volunteers (58-13) will be played on Sunday, June 23, at 1 p.m. CT.
Both teams had three innings in which they scored. A&M put up multiple runs in each of their scoring frames, while UT only tallied multiple runs in once.
“Great ball game,” Aggie head coach Jim Schlossnagle said. “Thought we played really well for the most part. We got a lot of timely hits. Had some good at-bats against some really good pitchers.”
A&M put up a crooked number in the top of the first. Leadoff hitter Gavin Grahovac fell behind 0-2 before going the other way for his 23rd home run of the season to give the Aggies a 1-0 edge. Jackson Appel had a one-out double and scored on a two-out single by Caden Sorrell to extend the lead to 2-0.
UT cut the deficit in half in the second as Dylan Dreiling had an infield single, went to third on a base hit by Hunter Ensley and scored on a single by Dean Curley to make it 2-1.
The Aggies exploded for five runs in the third, capped by a two-run single by Kent, to extend the lead to 7-1.
Ensley added an RBI single in the bottom of the third as the Vols cut it to 7-2.
Ryan Prager pitched the first four innings for A&M with eight hits, two runs, no walks and six strikeouts.
Kent pounded a two-run homer in the seventh, his fourth, to give A&M a 9-2 advantage.
“It was a 2-2 slider,” Kent said of his home run. “He hung the slider. I was able to get it.”
Dreiling smacked a two-run dinger in the bottom of the seventh, his 12th, as UT made it 9-4.
That ended the day for A&M reliever Josh Stewart, who allowed three walks and one hit in 2.1 innings with two runs and four strikeouts. He earned the win and leveled his record at 2-2.
Brad Rudis took over for Stewart and surrendered a homer to Ensley, his 12th long ball of the season, to narrow the gap to 9-5.
Closer Evan Aschenbeck entered for the Aggies and fanned two to get out of the seventh. He set the Vols down in order in the eighth with two strikeouts. Aschenbeck gave up a pair of one-out singles in the bottom of the ninth but struck out the final two hitters to secure the victory. A&M is 39-0 this season when leading after eight innings.
“Our job as a relief pitcher is to come in and pick up the guys in front of us,” Aschenbeck said. “To come into that opportunity, it was awesome because the atmosphere was crazy. It’s the College World Series. Everything’s cool about it. So just staying present and going pitch to pitch is something that worked for me.”
In 2.2 innings, Aschenbeck did not walk a batter and fanned seven.
“You just know he’s going to control his heartbeat, number one,” Schlossnagle said of Aschenbeck. “The moment’s never too big. He’s going to be in the strike zone with at least two pitches, usually three.”
Kent is 13 for 27 (.481) in nine NCAA Tournament games with two doubles, two homers, six runs and 14 RBI. In four CWS games, Kent is 8 for 16 (.500) with a double, a homer, two runs and seven RBI.
“Kaeden Kent continues to play outstanding the back half of the season,” Schlossnagle said.
Sorrell went 2 for 5 with one run and two RBI for A&M.
Dreiling went 4 for 5 with a homer, two runs and two RBI, while Ensley was 3 for 5 with a homer and two RBI for UT. The Vols left 10 on base.
“The team that played better won the game,” UT head coach Tony Vitello said. “They appeared more prepared. Even though we didn’t bring our best, we’re within striking distance against their guy there at the end of the game.”
Notes
This was the second meeting of the season between Tennessee and Texas A&M. The Vols posted a 7-4 victory in the SEC Tournament.
The Aggies remained unbeaten in the NCAA Tournament, winning all nine contests. The last team to win a national title without losing a tourney game was UCLA, going 10-0 in 2013.
Teams that have won Game 1 of the Championship Series have won 13 of 20 titles, finishing nine in two games and four going to a third game. Seven teams have lost Game 1 and have come back to win the next two games.
A&M has held opponents to 4 for 42 (.095) hitting with runners in scoring position in the CWS.