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College Football

Tennessee defeats FSU second time, advances to all-SEC College World Series finals

Andrew Olson

By Andrew Olson

Published:

Tennessee is going to the College World Series finals. The Volunteers will play either Texas A&M or Florida in a best-of-3 series beginning Saturday.

UT took care of FSU on Wednesday, defeating the Seminoles 7-2. The Vols got a strong outing from Zander Sechrist (6.1 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 3 K) and provided plenty of run support.

UT jumped out to an early lead, putting up a 3 spot in the top of the 1st inning as the away team in Wednesday’s game.

The Vols have been flashing the leather, particularly in the outfield, this College World Series. Kavares Tears did his best Hunter Ensley, crashing into the wall on a highlight grab in the bottom of the 3rd.

In the top of the 2nd inning, Tennessee extended its lead with an RBI single from Blake Burke to plate Christian Moore.

FSU threatened in the bottom of the 3rd inning. Jaxson West led off with a single and Max Williams doubled down the line, giving the Seminoles runners on second and third with no outs.

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West came home on a high hopper to short. He hesitated, which led to him being thrown out at the plate for the first out of the inning.

James Tibbs III then grounded into a double play. UT had to get the third out of the inning by tagging Smith. A run could have counted if Williams had hustled home before the tag, but the Vols were able to end the inning before Williams crossed the plate.

In the top of the 4th, Moore tripled to plate Cal Stark, extending UT’s lead to 5-0.

After a couple of scoreless innings, UT’s offense got back to it. An RBI single from Dylan Dreiling to plate Billy Amick gave the Vols a 6-0 lead before the 7th inning stretch.

After 6 scoreless frames from Zander Sechrist, Daniel Cantu ended the shutout with a solo home run to get Florida State on the board in the bottom of the 7th.

Alex Lodise made it back-to-back, adding a solo shot of his own to right, cutting it to 6-2. The two homers chased Sechrist, leading UT skipper Tony Vitello to turn to Kirby Connell.

Connell did his job, retiring the next two Noles with a pair of groundouts to end the rally. In the 8th inning, he allowed a leadoff single, but would only face the minimum thanks to a double-play ball off his glove.

Florida State used John Abraham as its starter. He was replaced in the top of the 1st after UT jumped out to a 2-0 lead. He finished with a line of 0.1 IP, 2 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 2 BB.

Brennen Oxford took over for Abraham in the 1st. He pitched into the 4th inning, posting a line of 3.1 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 1 BB and 4K over 75 pitches.

Joe Charles took over for Oxford to get the final out of the 4th inning. Charles pitched through the 7th inning, posting a line of 4.1 IP, 3 H,1 ER, 5 K over 62 pitches.

FSU turned to Conner Whittaker in the top of the 9th. He was greeted rudely with a leadoff solo homer from Burke.

Tennessee handed it over to Nate Snead in the bottom of the 9th. He worked around a leadoff single to retire the next three Noles for a scoreless inning.

Andrew Olson

Andrew writes about sports to fund his love of live music and collection of concert posters. He strongly endorses the Hall of Fame campaigns of Fred Taylor and Andruw Jones.

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