Tennessee baseball needed some magic in the bottom of the ninth inning if they were going to complete the comeback against Florida State. They got it thanks to four two-out hits in the bottom of the ninth from Christian Moore, Blake Burke, Billy Amick, and Dylan Dreiling.
The Vols faced large deficits throughout the game. They trailed 9-4 in the fourth inning and 11-7 in the seventh inning but the Vols were able to turn on the bats down the stretch and find a way to get 12 runs across the plate.
Christian Moore came into the CWS as one of the country's best players and played like it. He became the second player ever to hit for the cycle, going 5-for-6 with two doubles and a home run. The last time that happened in The Greatest Show on Dirt was when Minnesota's Jerry Kindall did it in 1956.
This also marks the first time in Men's College World Series history that each of the first two games ended in walk-offs after North Carolina walked off the ninth against Virginia.
Due to its size compared to most college parks, TD Ameritrade Park doesn't see many high-scoring CWS games. Tennessee and Florida State's combined 25 runs are the second-most runs scored in a College World Series game since 2009. Florida's 24-4 win over LSU in Game 2 of the 2023 CWS Finals is the only game with more runs over that period.
On the other side of the mound, Tennessee's defense and pitching struggled throughout the night. It was the first time Tennessee had given up 11 or more runs in a game since losing its first game of the SEC Tournament against Vanderbilt, and we saw how that ended.
The Vols have only allowed 11 or more runs in a game two other times this season; both were wins over Kentucky and Georgia.
The Vols aren't meant to win the College World Series. The No. 1 seed hasn't won the championship since 1999, with only a few even advancing to the CWS Finals. The Vols aren't letting those stats change how they play, as they continued to bring the hot bats on night one in Omaha.
This win also marks Tennessee's first win in Omaha in the Tony Vitello era. The Vols were previously 0-4 in the past two CWS appearances. The win also puts Tennessee in the winner's bracket with a scheduled matchup against North Carolina on Sunday at 7:00 PM ET on ESPN2.