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2024 CWS finals: Tennessee Wins

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Requisite dog pile. Photo via NCAA.com

So, for as good of a 2023 CWS finals matchup that we had (Florida vs LSU), this year we might have had an even better matchup: #1 Tennessee versus #3 Texas A&M. They were #1 and #2 in RPI, #1 and #4 in D1baseball’s final rankings, and TAMU probably had a better argument to be seeded ahead of Kentucky had they not gone 2-and-out in the SEC tourney. Both mostly cruised through the entire post-season to get here (TAMU went 8-0 in the CWS before the final, Tennessee 8-1 after going 4-1 in the SEC tourney to win it).

So it was fitting that it went three, and that it came down to a nail-biting 9th inning with the tying runs on base before Tennessee took it. Here’s a quick game by game recap.

  • Game 1: Tennessee’s starter didn’t get out of the first (though I thought it was a quick hook), and it didn’t matter as TAMU put 7 runs up in the first three innings to cruise to an easy win.
  • Game 2: A close game was opened up with two late homers from Tenn to force the tiebreaker.
  • Game 3: Tennessee’s starter Zander Sechrist shut down TAMU and the game 2 winner Aaron Combs came back on zero days rest after throwing 60+ pitchers to almost give away the game.

Your 2024 College World Series Champion: Tennessee, the first #1 seed to win it in 20+ years.

Quick recap of top draft prospect CWS finals performance:

  • TAMU’s Braden Montgomery, injured in the regional, is falling on draft boards and could get to the Nats at #10.
  • Christian Moore, 2B, Tennessee: 0-5 in the 1st game, 1-3 in the 2nd game and was pulled (not often you see your 1st round prospect replaced), 1-5 in the 3rd. Not a good final.
  • Billy Amick, 3B, Tennessee: 1-3 with 2 BB in the 1st game, 0-5 with a sombrero in the 2nd, 1-4 in the 3rd. Also not a good final.

Here’s some links to past years of CWS coverage here. I’ve been doing this for more than 10 years now! Each link below is the blog post covering that CWS final.