Saturday, June 22
Omaha, Neb.
6:30 PM
Texas A&M
53-13
9
vs
5
Tennessee
58-13
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4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Texas A&M
2
0
5
0
0
0
2
0
0
9
13
0
Tennessee
0
1
1
0
0
0
3
0
0
5
12
3
Aggies Claim College World Series Final Opener vs. Tennessee, 9-5
Jun 23, 2024 | Baseball
OMAHA – The No. 3 Texas A&M Aggies grabbed the upper hand in the College World Series Final, taking the opener of the best-of-three battle against the No. 1 Tennessee Volunteers, 9-5, Saturday evening at Charles Schwab Field.
Kaeden Kent continued his magical postseason run, slugging 3-of-4 with one home run and four RBI. After driving in 14 runs in his first 16 games, he has 14 RBI in his six Super Regional and College World Series games.
The Aggie offense batted .474 (9-for-19) with runners on base and .333 (5-for-15) with runners in scoring position.
Texas A&M (53-13) pounced on the Volunteers with two runs in the top of the first. Gavin Grahovac broke the scoring pitch on the third pitch of the game, blasting an 0-2 offering over the right field fence for the first ever leadoff home run in the first game of a CWS Final. It marked just the second leadoff dinger in any CWS Final game, joining Stanford's Sam Fuld in 2003.
With one out in the first, Jackson Appel tight-roped a double down the line and a fielding error by Curley at shortstop on a Hayden Schott grounder put runners on the corners. With two outs, Caden Sorrell buzzed the tower with a liner to the right of the pitcher for an RBI single, staking Ol' Sarge's charges to a 2-0 lead.
The Volunteers responded with a run in the home half of the second. Dylan Dreiling singled to second base and Hunter Ensley slapped a base hit to put runners on the corner to start the inning. With one out, Dean Curley knocked in Dreiling with a single to center field.
The Aggies' separation inning came in the third. Jace LaViolette worked an eight-pitch walk to lead off the rally. Appel singled to the pitcher and Schott bounced a base hit up the middle to knock in LaViolette. After Appel was retired at home on an unsuccessful squeeze bunt attempt by Ted Burton, Sorrell plated a run with single to right field. The cavalcade of runs continued with Burton scoring on a throwing error by the third baseman on a grounder by Ali Camarillo and a two-run single by Kent, boosting the Texas A&M lead to 7-1.
Tennessee (58-13) manufactured a run in the third inning. With one out, Blake Burke singled up the middle and two batters later Dreiling knocked a hit to the left of the second baseman to put two aboard. Ensley plated Burke with a single to left field, shaving the A&M advantage to 7-2.
After Camarillo worked a five-pitch walk to start the seventh, Kent pounded a 2-2 offering over the wall in right field, inflating the Aggies' cushion to 9-2.
The Volunteers showed life in the bottom of the seventh. With one out, Billy Amick drew a five-pitch walk and Dreiling hit a two-run home run to right field off Josh Stewart and Ensley followed with a solo home run off Brad Rudis before Evan Aschenbeck entered the game to close it down.
Ryan Prager battled through 4.0 innings plus one batter, allowing two runs on eight hits and six strikeouts in the Texas A&M start.
For the second consecutive game, Stewart (2-2) entered the game with two runners on and no outs and stranded both. He yielded two runs on one hit and three walks while striking out four in 2.1 innings.
Aschenbeck struck out seven of the batters he faced over 2.2 scoreless innings, working around a pair of singles.
Inside the Box Score
The Aggies look to claim their first national title tomorrow afternoon as Sunday's game two is scheduled for 1 p.m. from Charles Schwab Field.
Follow the Aggies
Visit for more information on Texas A&M baseball. Fans can keep up to date with the A&M baseball team on Facebook, Instagram and X by following @aggiebaseball.
Kaeden Kent continued his magical postseason run, slugging 3-of-4 with one home run and four RBI. After driving in 14 runs in his first 16 games, he has 14 RBI in his six Super Regional and College World Series games.
The Aggie offense batted .474 (9-for-19) with runners on base and .333 (5-for-15) with runners in scoring position.
Texas A&M (53-13) pounced on the Volunteers with two runs in the top of the first. Gavin Grahovac broke the scoring pitch on the third pitch of the game, blasting an 0-2 offering over the right field fence for the first ever leadoff home run in the first game of a CWS Final. It marked just the second leadoff dinger in any CWS Final game, joining Stanford's Sam Fuld in 2003.
With one out in the first, Jackson Appel tight-roped a double down the line and a fielding error by Curley at shortstop on a Hayden Schott grounder put runners on the corners. With two outs, Caden Sorrell buzzed the tower with a liner to the right of the pitcher for an RBI single, staking Ol' Sarge's charges to a 2-0 lead.
The Volunteers responded with a run in the home half of the second. Dylan Dreiling singled to second base and Hunter Ensley slapped a base hit to put runners on the corner to start the inning. With one out, Dean Curley knocked in Dreiling with a single to center field.
The Aggies' separation inning came in the third. Jace LaViolette worked an eight-pitch walk to lead off the rally. Appel singled to the pitcher and Schott bounced a base hit up the middle to knock in LaViolette. After Appel was retired at home on an unsuccessful squeeze bunt attempt by Ted Burton, Sorrell plated a run with single to right field. The cavalcade of runs continued with Burton scoring on a throwing error by the third baseman on a grounder by Ali Camarillo and a two-run single by Kent, boosting the Texas A&M lead to 7-1.
Tennessee (58-13) manufactured a run in the third inning. With one out, Blake Burke singled up the middle and two batters later Dreiling knocked a hit to the left of the second baseman to put two aboard. Ensley plated Burke with a single to left field, shaving the A&M advantage to 7-2.
After Camarillo worked a five-pitch walk to start the seventh, Kent pounded a 2-2 offering over the wall in right field, inflating the Aggies' cushion to 9-2.
The Volunteers showed life in the bottom of the seventh. With one out, Billy Amick drew a five-pitch walk and Dreiling hit a two-run home run to right field off Josh Stewart and Ensley followed with a solo home run off Brad Rudis before Evan Aschenbeck entered the game to close it down.
Ryan Prager battled through 4.0 innings plus one batter, allowing two runs on eight hits and six strikeouts in the Texas A&M start.
For the second consecutive game, Stewart (2-2) entered the game with two runners on and no outs and stranded both. He yielded two runs on one hit and three walks while striking out four in 2.1 innings.
Aschenbeck struck out seven of the batters he faced over 2.2 scoreless innings, working around a pair of singles.
Inside the Box Score
- Grahovac smacked his 23rd home run of the season, increasing his Aggie freshman record.
- Kent batted 3-for-5 with one home run, one run and four RBI, improving to 13-of-27 (.481) for the NCAA Tournament.
- Kent recorded his seventh multi-hit game of the season, including four in the last five games.
- Appel batted 2-for-4 with one double and one walk, for his 25th multi-hit game of the season, tying him for the team lead.
- Schott hit 2-for-5 with one double, for his 24th multi-hit game of the season – ranking third on the squad.
- Sorrell batted 2-for-5 with one run and two RBI for his 10th multi-hit game of the season.
- Eight Aggie starters recorded hits, including four players with multiple hits.
- Texas A&M pitchers combined for a season-high 17 strikeouts, their third double-digit performance in the four CWS games.
- Appel and Sorrell each stole a base in the game, improving their season numbers to 16 and nine, respectively.
- Jim Schlossnagle joined Augie Garrido as the only two coaches to earn six-plus College World Series wins at multiple schools, improving to 6-2 at Texas A&M to go with 11-10 at TCU.
- With 53 wins, the Aggies have their highest win total since the 1993 campaign when they went 53-11. The win tally is tied for second in school annals.
- In the 2024 edition, Texas A&M has doubled its all-time win total at the College World Series, improving to 8-14 all-time.
- Under Schlossnagle, Texas A&M is now 18-4 in postseason play and 6-2 in College World Series games.
- LaViolette stretched his school-record season walk total to 62.
- LaViolette has now reached base safely in 24 straight games, the longest stretch of his career.
- Stewart entered the game with one runner on and no outs and left him stranded. For the College World Series, he has stranded five runners, including three with no outs.
- With his six strikeouts, Prager moved to ninth place on A&M's single season list with 124.
- The Aggies improved to 12-10 all-time against Tennessee.
- Aschenbeck worked his 27th multi-inning performance of the year.
The Aggies look to claim their first national title tomorrow afternoon as Sunday's game two is scheduled for 1 p.m. from Charles Schwab Field.
Follow the Aggies
Visit for more information on Texas A&M baseball. Fans can keep up to date with the A&M baseball team on Facebook, Instagram and X by following @aggiebaseball.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Stewart, Josh (2-2)
L: Chris Stamos (3-1)
Batting:
2B: Appel, Jackson 1 ; Schott, Hayden 1
HR: Grahovac, Gavin 1 ; Kent, Kaeden 1
RBI: Grahovac, Gavin 1 ; Schott, Hayden 1 ; Sorrell, Caden 2 ; Kent, Kaeden 4
SH: Chestnut, Travis 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Grahovac, Gavin 1 ; LaViolette, Jace 1 ; Appel, Jackson 1 ; Schott, Hayden 1 ; Burton, Ted 1 ; Sorrell, Caden 1 ; Camarillo, Ali 2 ; Kent, Kaeden 1
SB: Appel, Jackson 1 ; Sorrell, Caden 1
CS: Camarillo, Ali 1
Batting:
2B: Blake Burke 1
HR: Dylan Dreiling 1 ; Hunter Ensley 1
RBI: Dylan Dreiling 2 ; Hunter Ensley 2 ; Dean Curley 1
SH: Reese Chapman 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Blake Burke 1 ; Billy Amick 1 ; Dylan Dreiling 2 ; Hunter Ensley 1
Game Leaders
AB
5
R
1
H
3
RBI
4
AB
4
R
1
H
2
RBI
0
AB
5
R
1
H
2
RBI
1
AB
5
R
1
H
2
RBI
2
Players Mentioned
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/ BaseballMedia Availability: Michael Earley
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Media Availability: Caden Sorrell
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Media Availability: Aiden Sims
Thursday, October 09
Media Availability: Michael Earley
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