OMAHA, Neb. — Tennessee baseball has no room left for error after an error-riddled opener in the College World Series final.
The Vols made critical mistakes in an uncharacteristic and costly first few innings Saturday to push their season to the brink, fumbling Game 1 to Texas A&M with three errors in a 9-5 loss Saturday at Charles Schwab Field.
Tennessee (58-13) and Texas A&M (53-13) play Game 2 on Sunday (2 p.m. ET, ABC). The Vols are trying to become the first No. 1 national seed since 1999 to win a national title. They will have to win Sunday and Monday to do so.
Oh, those defensive woes for the Vols
Tennessee has been erratic defensively in Omaha and that was a problem again.
Shortstop Dean Curley booted a grounder up the middle in the first inning that bounced off the mound. Third baseman Billy Amick threw wildly amid a horrid third inning. Outfielder Reese Chapman had a single scoot under his glove.
Errors made by Curley and Amick led to runs,; Marcus Phillips got UT out of the fifth after Chapman’s goof.
Tennessee imploded in the third inning against Texas A&M
Tennessee unraveled in the third inning, turning a 2-1 deficit into a 7-1 deficit.
It was marked by bad defense and two-strike hits for Texas A&M against AJ Causey. It started with a walk and a single that used the mound as a ramp. Amick’s error was a major issue, as was Chapman’s decision to throw to second instead of home on an RBI single to right from Caden Sorrell.
Kaeden Kent singled two in to make it a 7-1 game.
The Vols flirted with a comeback but the deficit was too large
Dylan Dreiling, who had four hits to continue his super CWS, lifted a two-run homer to right in the seventh. Hunter Ensley followed with a solo homer to left, which also was his third hit.
The back-to-back homers cut the Texas A&M lead to 9-5.
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Tennessee’s opening act is over
The Chris Stamos and Causey pairing didn’t work for Tennessee for the second time in the CWS.
Stamos recorded only one out again, which also was the case in UT’s opener against Florida State. He gave up a solo homer to Texas A&M’s Gavin Grahovac leading off the game and was hurt by Curley’s error.
Causey was effective at times, but A&M made regular hard contact. He allowed five runs, four of them earned, on six hits in 3⅔ innings. He struck out five.
Mike Wilson covers University of Tennessee athletics. Email him at [email protected] and follow him on Twitter @ByMikeWilson. If you enjoy Mike’s coverage, consider a digital subscription that will allow you access to all of it.
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