Texas A&M cruises to win over Tennessee in Game 1 of College World Series championship
Published:
Texas A&M defeated Tennessee 9-5 on Saturday night in Omaha to take a 1-0 lead in the College World Series championship.
The Aggies struck first with a pair of runs — only 1 earned — against Tennessee starter Chris Stamos. Vols coach Tony Vitello has taken some criticism for continuing to use Stamos as an opener in Game 1 of all of Tennessee’s postseason series, but this was the first time Tennessee has lost one of his starts during the NCAA Tournament.
AJ Causey entered the game for Stamos midway through the first inning, but he was hit hard by the Aggies as well. Texas A&M tagged Causey for 6 hits and 5 runs (4 earned) over 3.2 innings of work.
Tennessee’s issues on the mound resulted in a 7-2 lead through 3 innings of play. The Vols did fight back with a few runs in the late innings, but it wasn’t enough to make it a close game.
Game one belongs to the Ags#GigEm x #MCWS pic.twitter.com/RofDmTY2Lt
— Texas A&M Baseball (@AggieBaseball) June 23, 2024
For Texas A&M, Ryan Prager pitched well enough to give the Aggies a big edge. He struck out 6 batters in 4 innings of work, allowing just 2 runs. Texas A&M’s bullpen did the rest — it wasn’t perfect, but it was more than enough to secure the win.
It’s worth nothing that Texas A&M bullpen ace Evan Aschenbeck did throw 46 pitches in the final 2.2 frames of this game. Aschenbeck is one of the best relievers in the country, and ended up striking out 7 of the 10 batters he faced. However, his high pitch count could mean that he’s unavailable for the Aggies in Game 2 on Sunday, depending on the situation.
Kaeden Kent was the hero offensively for Texas A&M as he drove in 4 runs and hit a 2-run homer in the 7th inning to give the Aggies some much-needed insurance runs.
Tennessee had its opportunities offensively. The Vols had 12 hits — just 1 fewer than Texas A&M — but struggled to come up with big hits in clutch moments. The Vols ended up stranding 10 runners and struck out a whopping 17 times against A&M’s pitching staff. The Vols will be looking to put the ball in play more often on Sunday.
Game 2 between these teams will be played at 2 p.m. ET on Sunday afternoon.
Spenser is a news editor for Saturday Down South and covers college football across all Saturday Football brands.
