Cal Stark hadn’t gotten a hit in the entire College World Series. In the top of the eighth of Game Two of the College World Series Finals against the Texas A&M Aggies, though, the Tennessee Baseball catcher finally came through in a gigantic way for Tony Vitello’s team.
With the Vols clinging to a 2-1 lead, Stark hit a pitch from Kaiden Wilson out of the park to extend their lead to 4-1, which ended up being the final score, allowing UT to tie up the series. Stark redeemed himself from two innings earlier when he grounded into an inning-ending double-play with the Vols trailing 1-0 and two men on.
Every fan on Rocky Top breathed a sigh of relief and said, “It’s about time.” They didn’t just say that about Stark’s drought, though. This applied to the Tennessee Baseball series with A&M to this point. UT is deeper all-around than A&M, and A&M has a pitcher and two starters hurt.
Tony Vitello entered the series not changing his rotation, starting Chris Stamos Friday, and the Vols forced the Aggies’ pitch count way up for multiple players. After losing 9-5 Saturday and trailing 1-0 into the seventh Sunday, those advantages were bound to ooze through.
Wilson, despite an ERA over eight, though, was working a shutout through two innings. It would seem as if all of A&M’s energy and depth would be just enough to secure a Sunday victory thanks to a home run starting pitcher Drew Beam surrendered in the first inning.
Rocky Top had gone 0-of-8 with runners in scoring position to that point. Then there were the strikeouts and errors from Game One. Christian Moore and Dylan Dreiling finally delivered. Moore walked in the top of the seventh and tagged up to second.
Then, with two outs, Dreiling hit one over the right field fence, giving the Vols a 2-1 lead. Stark extended it in the next inning. Nate Snead was able to close out the game despite two runners on with no outs in the bottom of the ninth, saving the Vols’ season.
Now, Tennessee Baseball will face A&M in a rubber match Monday for all the marbles. This time, they have the advantage, as they get to put their best pitcher, Zander Sechrist, on the mound, and they will be able to go deeper into their bullpen. It will likely be another pitcher’s duel, but UT has more arms.
Thanks to those two home runs, Vitello’s decision to treat the College World Series like any other series has paid off to this point. He just forced all of the UT fans in Omaha and around the world to sweat through it with that decision. This was A&M’s first loss of the event, so the Vols have momentum going into Monday too.
