Texas A&M builds big lead early, beats Tennessee 9-5 in Game 1 of College World Series Finals

OMAHA, Neb. – Great start. Great finish.

And now, after defeating Tennessee 9-5 in Saturday night’s College World Series Finals opener, Texas A.&M faces his toughest task of the season. The Aggies must defeat the powerful No. 1 national ranking once again on Sunday to capture their first national championship.

The Aggies (53-13) put themselves in position with Gavin Grahovac’s home run to start the game, opening it with a five-run third inning and bringing in Evan Aschenbeck to pitch 2 2/3 innings of shutout relief to reverse a Tennessee offense that was starting to pick up.

“We all know what’s at stake,” Schlossnagle said. “There is no Lombardi speech. We just try to keep them as loose as possible.”

Tennessee (58-13), trying to become the first top seed since 1999 to win the championship, will go into Sunday’s Game 2 having lost consecutive games just once this season and not since March 16-17 at Alabama.

“You figure out different ways to respond and you can either get frustrated because tonight went the way it went or you can get more determined,” Vols coach Tony Vitello said. “We have guys who have done this a lot in the past, where the determination increases and the game increases.”

The third-ranked Aggies capitalized on some errors that led to two runs — Tennessee committed eight in four CWS games — and the inability of pitchers Chris Stamos (3-1) and AJ Causey to hit their spots consistently.

Grahovac drove Stamos’ 0-2 fastball to right for the first leadoff home run in a CWS Finals since Sam Fuld did it for Stanford against Rice in Game 2 in 2003.

Causey walked Jace LaViolette in the leadoff of the third, Jackson Appel’s return deflected off Causey’s foot for a base hit and Hayden Schott followed with an RBI single to start the Aggies’ five-run outburst.

Kaeden Kent, son of former major leaguer Jeff Kent, made it a seven-run game in the seventh with his home run into the right-field bullpen.

“By going around the bases, I was able to figure it out,” Kent said. “The bullpen was going crazy. and much credit to them.

Kent, who entered the starting lineup two weeks ago after star Braden Montgomery broke his ankle in the super regionals, finished with three hits and four RBIs.

The Vols, the nation’s most prolific home run hitting team in three decades, used the long pass to create some anxiety for the Aggies in the bottom of the seventh.

Dylan Dreiling’s two-run shot to right ended the night for reliever Josh Stewart (2-2), and Hunter Ensley’s soaring fly over the left-field fence over Brad Rudis made it 9-5. The Vols have 180 homers this season, eight behind LSU’s NCAA record set in 1997.

Ensley was the only batter Rudis faced. Aggies manager Jim Schlossnagle brought in Aschenbeck, and the lefty retired six straight before back-to-back singles put runners on the corners with one out in the ninth. The National Stopper of the Year struck out Ensley and Kavares Tears to end the game.

“It’s something I’ve been doing all year, just trying to give my team the best chance to win,” Aschenbeck said. “That’s what pitchers are for. Our job as a relief pitcher is to come in and catch the guys in front of us. Having this opportunity was incredible because the atmosphere was crazy.

“It’s the College World Series. Everything’s cool about it.”

The Vols were 2-for-13 with runners in scoring position, 2-for-11 with two outs and left 10 runners on base.

“Even though we didn’t give our best,” Vitello said, “we were close to the opponent at the end of the game.”

Aschenbeck was responsible for seven of the Aggies’ 17 shutouts on the season. He has allowed just one earned run in his last nine starts, spanning 25 2/3 innings.

“I’ve had some great walk-ons in the past and he’s on the same level as all of them,” Schlossnagle said. “You just know he’s going to control his heartbeat, No. 1. The moment is never too big.”

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