Omaha, Neb. – On the third day of the 2024 NCAA Division I College World Series, the No 1 program in the nation, the University of Tennessee Volunteers beat the No. 4 ranked University of North Carolina Tar Heels 6-1 in the winner’s bracket in the second game on Sunday at Charles Schwab Field in front of 25,140 fans in attendance.
“I thought they got the big hit, and they capitalized, and we could not do that. I thought, top to bottom, we pitched the ball pretty dang well. But they got it done with runners in scoring position, and we didn’t. Credit to them”, UNC head coach Scott Forbes said during the post-game press conference.
The game’s first hit did not come until the top of the fourth inning, with North Carolina’s first baseman Parker Harber hitting a bloop single into right field with two outs off of starting pitcher Drew Beam.
Beam retired the first-eleven batters of the game before giving up the single to Harber.
Beam threw five innings on Sunday night and allowed four hits, one earned run, two walks, and seven strikeouts before being taken out in the top of the sixth inning by Volunteers head coach Tony Vitello.
“We’ve grinded out those two last games to put us in the position where we’re ahead 2-0. And there’s a bunch of guys on this team that have done it and been here. And the experience has really helped us through it all,” Beam said during the post-game press conference.
The Volunteers did not get their first hit of the game until the bottom of the fourth inning, with first baseman Blake Burke hitting a single to left field off of Tar Heels starting pitcher Shea Sprague to lead off the inning.
Sprague retired six batters in a row after he walked Volunteers left fielder Dylan Dreiling to lead off the bottom of the second inning before giving up the first Volunteers hit of the game on Sunday night.
A few moments later, Tennessee right fielder Kavres Tears launched a three-run home run into the right field bullpen, his 20th of the season, to help the Volunteers take a 3-0 lead, scoring Burke and Dreiling.
During the bottom of the fifth inning, the Tennessee offense extended their lead to four runs with designated hitter Reese Chapman launching a solo home run over the right-center field, his seventh of the season, to make it 4-0.
Shortly after, UNC head coach Scott Forbes took Shea Sprague out of the game and called upon relief pitcher Matthew Matthijs.
Sprague threw four innings, allowing three hits, four earned runs, two walks, and striking out six batters while facing 17 batters.