The Men's College World Series final starts tomorrow

June 21, 2024
The Men’s College World Series’ (MCWS) best-of-three championship finale between two SEC rivals — each hunting their programs’ first titles — begins tomorrow at 7:30 p.m. ET on ESPN.
CollegeBaseball
The Men's College World Series final starts tomorrowThe Men's College World Series final starts tomorrow
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🔶 No. 1–seed Tennessee Volunteers

How they got here: To reach their first championship series since 1951, the Vols posted the best season record the sport has seen in five years. They won the regular-season and tournament titles in the most competitive conference, the SEC, and currently lead the nation in homers.

Players to watch: Pitcher Zander Sechrist was the hero of Wednesday’s 7–2 semifinal win over No. 8 Florida State, allowing just five hits in just over six innings of work. That said, reaching the finals required the Vols’ entire bullpen, including big-league performances from the likes of Drew Beam and mustache model Kirby Connell this week.

Key to victory: Surprisingly, these last-standing SEC squads have only met once this year, when Tennessee snagged a 7–4 Tennessee victory thanks to their offensive prowess. If the Vols have a good pitching staff, Texas A&M has a great one, so maintaining their power at the plate will be crucial for Tennessee if they want to hoist the hardware for the first time ever.

🟥 No. 3–seed Texas A&M Aggies

The Men's College World Series final starts tomorrowThe Men's College World Series final starts tomorrow
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How they got here: The Aggies haven’t lost a single NCAA tournament game on their way to their first-ever championship series. Like Tennessee, they’ve been a Top-10 team all season, largely thanks to their ace-filled roster: A&M’s pitching staff ranks third in team ERA and has allowed only three runs in as many MCWS games.

Players to watch: Headlining that formidable bullpen is the country’s best reliever, senior Evan Aschenbeck, whose 1.54 ERA leads the league by a wide margin. But on Wednesday, southpaw Justin Lamkin carried the load with an impressive nine strikeouts over five innings in the Aggies’ 6–0 semifinal shutout of Florida.

Keys to victory: Even with so much talent on the mound, the Vols’ bats will be extremely tough to silence, so A&M needs to keep up on the scoring front. They’ve recorded only one homer since arriving at the MCWS and have instead relied on aggressive base-running to score. Every Aggie will need to be on his A-game to match Tennessee’s scoring machine.