The 2024 NCAA Baseball National Champions reside in Knoxville.
Tennessee baseball claimed its first title in program history Monday in Omaha with a 6-5 win over Texas A&M. The Vols used another great outing from senior left-handed pitcher Zander Sechrist, as he allowed just one earned run in 5.1 innings, controlling the game as he’s done for the past six outings.
Tennessee’s offense came alive in the seventh inning, scoring three runs to take a commanding lead. Dylan Dreiling provided another big swing with a two-run homer, his third of the CWS Finals, and Hunter Ensley made a phenomenal play to evade a tag at home plate and score the Vols’ sixth and final run.
Tennessee’s arms didn’t relinquish the lead in the final frames, with Aaron Combs getting the final three outs in the ninth to finish the game after Kirby Connell logged massive back-to-back strikeouts in the eighth to strand a pair.
This season marked the first time Tennessee reached the CWS Finals since 1951, as seven-year head coach Tony Vitello continues to take the program to heights unknown.
The Vols went 5-1 in Omaha, beating Florida State twice and North Carolina before winning games two and three in the CWS Finals against the Aggies.
The national championship is the University of Tennessee’s first team sports title since Women’s Indoor Track in 2009. The last major sports team to win a title was Pat Summitt’s 2008 Lady Vols.
The last national championship in a men’s sport was the 2002 Indoor Track team, and the last men’s team to win a title in a major sport was the 1998 football Vols.
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Tennessee baseball made history in many ways this season, with Monday being the ultimate icing on the cake.
The Vols became the first team in SEC baseball history to win 60 games in a single-season and broke countless program single-season records.
Earlier in the College World Series, Tennessee set an NCAA record when Blake Burke became the fifth Vol to hit 20 or more home runs this season. The only other team in NCAA history to have four players hit 20+ long balls is Alabama in 1997.
With Tennessee’s National Championship victory, the 2024 Vols are the first one-seed to claim a title this century. The last top-seeded squad to win it all was the 1999 Miami Hurricanes.
Interestingly enough, Christian Moore became the first player to leadoff a National Championship game with a home run since “at least” 1999, according to ESPN Stats & Info.
According to @ESPNStatsInfo Christian Moore is the first player to hit a leadoff home run in the national championship game since at least 1999…also the last time the No. 1 national seed won the #MCWS.
— Ryan McGee (@ESPNMcGee) June 24, 2024
The Vols are bringing hardware back to Knoxville for the first time ever. Be sure to stay up to date on all things Tennessee baseball National Championship coverage on Rocky Top Insider.
