Tennessee Baseball vs. Texas A&M Score, Updates, College World Series Finals Game Two | Rocky Top Insider

SCORE: Tennessee 0, Texas A&M 0 | PREGAME

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Top-ranked Tennessee baseball (58-13, 22-8 SEC) is set to battle No. 3 seed Texas A&M Aggies (53-13, 19-11 SEC) Sunday in Omaha in game one of the College World Series Finals.

First pitch at Charles Schwab Field is set for 2:00 p.m. ET on ESPN.

Tennessee is aiming to keep its championship hopes alive Sunday after dropping game one to Texas A&M, 9-5. If the Vols win, there will be a deciding game three on Monday night for the National Championship. Texas A&M will end Tennessee’s season and claim the National Championship with a win Sunday.

A&M took an early lead it never relinquished. The Vols’ pitching wasn’t great but the defense was dreadful, committing three errors to give them little chance at being able to come back. Additionally, the offense mostly underwhelmed. Christian Moore and Kavares Tears each went 0-5 at the plate and the entire team was 2-13 with runners in scoring position.

RECAP: Tennessee Drops Game One Of College World Series Finals Against Texas A&M

This is the first time Tennessee is in the College World Series Finals since 1951. The Vols have never won a National Championship and neither have the Aggies.

Tennessee and Texas A&M went 3-0 prior to the final series. While the 3-0 starts allowed each team to reset its pitching for the weekend, neither team is at full strength. Tennessee is obviously without star pitcher AJ Russell who underwent Tommy John surgery last Tuesday, and A&M is without its best position player, Braden Montgomery, and one of its best arms, Shane Sdao.

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The two sides met once before the CWS Finals. Tennessee defeated A&M 7-4 in its second game of the SEC Tournament to eliminate the Aggies. It was the first of four wins for Tennessee that week as the Vols went on to claim an SEC Tournament championship.

Since Tennessee’s win over the Aggies, Texas A&M has not lost a game. The Vols will look to end the Aggies’ winning streak on Sunday to keep their season alive and force a deciding game three on Monday for the National Championship.

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Tennessee is the No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament for the second time in three years. The Vols swept through the Knoxville Regional and won two of three games against Evansville in the Knoxville Super Regional.

Texas A&M is the No. 3 seed after finishing second in the SEC West behind Arkansas. The Aggies have been among the top teams in the nation all year, owning sweeps over Auburn and Vanderbilt and a series win over Arkansas. In the postseason, the Aggies swept their regional and swept Oregon in the College Station Super.

SCOUTING REPORT: Tennessee Baseball College World Series Finals Preview: A Quick Look At Texas A&M

TRANSCRIPT: Everything Tennessee HC Tony Vitello Said After Vols Dropped Game One Against Texas A&M

For all of RTI’s baseball coverage so far in the College World Series, including an INSTANT reaction from Tennessee’s game one loss vs. Texas A&M, click here.

For the latest RTI Press Pass baseball podcast, click here.

More From RTI: Tennessee Confident It Will Bounce Back In Game Two Against Texas A&M

VIDEO: Tony Vitello, AJ Causey, Dylan Loy React to CWS Finals Game One Loss to Texas A&M

Injury Note

-Sophomore RHP AJ Russell is shut down for the remainder of the season and thus is inactive for the College World Series. Russell underwent Tommy John surgery on Tuesday to repair his UCL. However, Russell is with the team in Omaha.

-RS-Jr. centerfielder Hunter Ensley is BACK starting in centerfield after not starting defensively for two straight games nursing an injury he sustained when crashing hard into the wall to make a catch-of-the-year candidate Sunday against UNC. Ensley was the DH in Wednesday’s game against FSU and game one against Texas A&M.

Lineups, pitching matchup and additional pre-game notes are below, followed by the LIVE at-bat by at-bat game thread.

Starting Lineups

TENNESSEE STARTING NINE: 

2B Christian Moore (R)

1B Blake Burke (L)

3B Billy Amick (R)

LF Dylan Dreiling (L)

CF Hunter Ensley (R)

RF Kavares Tears (L)

SS Dean Curley (R)

DH Cannon Peebles (S)

C Cal Stark (R)

Lineup Notes:

• Ensley is BACK in centerfield after starting as the DH Wednesday and Saturday.
• Tears moves back to right field with Ensley in center.
• Cannon Peebles gets his first start of the CWS, starting at DH over Bargo and Chapman.
  • Peebles has been great in pinch-hit opportunities this postseason. Peebles’ start comes after a poor night from Chapman on Saturday. Bargo hasn’t been productive in Omaha, either.

TEXAS A&M STARTING NINE: 

3B Gavin Grahovac (R)

RF Jace LaViolette (L)

C Jackson Appel (S)

DH Hayden Schott (L)

1B Ted Burton (R)

LF Caden Sorrell (L)

SS Ali Camarillo (R)

2B Kaeden Kent (L)

CF Travis Chestnut (R)

Pitching Matchup:

Vols Jr. RHP Drew Beam (9-2, 4.30 ERA, 18 app., 18 starts, 2 CG, 98.1 IP, 100 H, 57 R, 47 ER, 25 BB, 92 K, 31 XBH, .260 opp. batting avg., 1.27 WHIP)

vs.

Aggies Sr. RHP Zane Badmaev (3-0, 2.70 ERA, 16 app., 0 starts, 23.1 IP, 16 H, 7 R, 7 ER, 5 BB, 27 K, 2 XBH, .188 opp. batting avg., 0.90 WHIP)

Pitching notes:

• Beam continues to start in a game two setting. Aaron Combs and Nate Snead are also ready to go out of the bullpen as neither pitched on Saturday.
  • Arguably the best outing of Beam’s career came in a postseason elimination game (2023 vs. Southern Miss in Hattiesburg)
• Badmaev gets his first start of the season. Will likely be used as an opener before giving way to elite reliever Chris Cortez.
  • Badmaev’s longest outing of the season is 4.1 innings. The most pitches he’s thrown is 54. Outside of the one 4.1 inning outing (Ole Miss), he doesn’t have another outing with more than 2.0 innings.
  • Badmaev hasn’t given up more than one earned run against an SEC team and has only done it once this season (vs. Sam Houston).

Uniforms

Tennessee: Dark Mode

Texas A&M: All whits with maroon caps

*NOTES*

• There is NO Run-Rule in NCAA Tournament play.
• Tennessee is the AWAY team as it was the home team Saturday. The Vols will be the HOME Monday if they force a game three.

1st Inning: 

T1

B1

Score: Vols 0, Aggies 0

2nd Inning: 

T2

B2

Score: Vols , Aggies

3rd Inning: 

T3

B3

Score: Vols , Aggies

4th Inning: 

T4

B4

Score: Vols , Aggies

5th Inning: 

T5

B5

Score: Vols , Aggies

6th Inning: 

T6

B6

Score: Vols , Aggies

7th Inning: 

T7

B7

Score: Vols , Aggies

8th Inning: 

T8

B8

Score: Vols , Aggies

9th Inning: 

T9

B9

Score: Vols , Aggies

FINAL: Tennessee Vols __, Texas A&M Aggies __