Omaha, Neb. – The No. 1 program in the country, the University of Tennessee Volunteers, beat the No. 8 ranked Florida State University Seminoles 12-11 in walk-off fashion on Friday night, as the shadows glared during the early evening start of the second game on the first day of the College World Series.
The Volunteers trailed 11-8 going into the bottom of the ninth inning; a leadoff triple by Kavares Tears started the rally. It ended with left fielder Dylan Dreiling roping a single to left-center field, scoring first baseman Blake Burke to cap off a furious Volunteers comeback.
#TENNESSEE CALLS “GAME” WITH THE WALK OFF OVER #FLORIDASTATE #MCWS ???? pic.twitter.com/UmLnREAbLr
— World Baseball Network (@WorldBaseball_) June 15, 2024
Tennessee second baseman Christian Moore became the second player in NCAA Division I CWS history to hit for the cycle on Friday night and finished the game with five hits, joining Minnesota’s Jerry Kindall in 1956 against Ole Miss.
Moore is ranked at No. 25 in the Top 200 Draft Prospects from MLBpipeline.com.
“The whole game, the only mindset I have is to win, get on base for my team, and set the tone. I have really good hitters behind me, so I just want to get on for them,” Moore said during the post-game press conference.
After FSU scraped a run across in the top of the first, the Volunteers offense got to work, putting up four runs in the first two innings thanks to some timely hitting.
The FSU offense broke out six runs in the top of the third inning. It started with outfielder Jamie Ferrer drilling a two-run double to right-center field, scoring right fielder Tibbs and designated hitter Marco Dinges to cut the deficit to 4-3.
A few batters later, West drew a bases-loaded walk to score Ferrer and tie the game at 4-4. Some sloppy Tennessee defense resulted in three more runs for FSU, and they extended the lead to 7-4.
In the top of the fourth inning, the FSU offense gave even more insurance as Ferrer launched a two-run home run over the left field wall, scoring designated hitter Marco Dinges to make it 9-4.
After a Kavares Tears two-run home run cut the deficit to 9-6 in the bottom of the fifth, Christian Moore came to the plate in the sixth looking to make history. He was a home run short of the cycle, and on a friendly 3-1 count, he launched a 440-foot solo home run over the center field wall, his 33rd of the year, to make it 9-7 and to complete the cycle.