OMAHA, Nebraska — Tennessee will play in the College World Series finals for the first time in the modern era after eliminating Florida State with a 7-2 victory Wednesday to win its group.
Zander Sechrist held the Seminoles scoreless for six innings and the Volunteers scored four early runs to become the first national No. 1 seed since 2009 to advance to the best-of-three finals.
Tennessee's victory clinched an all-SEC final for the second straight year and third time in four. The Volunteers (58-12) will play either Texas A&M or Florida in the championship that begins Saturday. The Southeastern Conference will have at least one team in the finals for the 15th time in 16 years.
The Seminoles (49-17) came into the game still smarting from their 12-11 loss to Tennessee in their CWS opener. They were up 11-8 at the bottom of the ninth inning of that game. The third base umpire's call on Blake Burke's check swing with two strikes and two outs went against FSU, and Dylan Dreiling drove in the winning run in the Vols' victory.
Tennessee left no doubt about the outcome of the rematch as it completed a three-game sweep of the bracket.
The Vols reached a one-game final in their first CWS appearance in 1951, losing 3-2 to Oklahoma. In those days, there were no preliminary rounds in the NCAA tournament; Teams were selected for the CWS based on regular season performance.
The Vols broke through under coach Tony Vitello after winning one of five games combined in trips to Omaha in 2021 and 2023. They will try to become the first seed to win the championship since Miami in 1999.
FSU coach Link Jarrett started freshman John Abraham in place of ace Jamie Arnold, who pitched Friday and would have had four days of rest. Abraham (5-2) was making his first start since April 9 and third of the season. He struggled with control and faced only five batters before being retired with one out.
Tennessee was up 4-0 when Burke drove in a run with a single in the second, and finished the scoring in the ninth when he hit his 20th home run of the season. That made the Vols the first team in Division I history to have five players with at least 20 home runs. They have a national-leading 178, nine behind the Division I record set by LSU in 1997.
Sechrist (5-1) came into the game 3-0 in his previous four starts with a 0.78 ERA and 18 strikeouts in 23 innings. His scoreless streak in the NCAA Tournament ended at 17⅓ innings when Daniel Cantú and Alex Lodise hit back-to-back home runs in the seventh.
That brought in Kirby Connell, known as “Vollie Fingers” for sporting a mustache similar to the one made famous by Hall of Fame reliever Rollie Fingers. Connell allowed one hit before handing the ball off to closer Nate Snead in the ninth.
In a CWS marked by jaw-dropping defensive plays, Tennessee's Kavares Tears matched teammate Hunter Ensley's against North Carolina on Sunday.
Tears ran down Marco Dinges' deep drive to right center, catching the ball as it crashed into the wall, his sunglasses and hat flying.
Tears, the Vols' regular right fielder, made his first start in center since April 23 because Ensley suffered a lower-body injury when he caught Anthony Donofrio's fly ball to center just before crashing into the wall. . Ensley was the designated hitter against the Seminoles and went 1-for-4.
