OMAHA, Neb. — Tennessee has been powered by the bat of second baseman Christian Moore all season long.
His 33 home runs heading into the College World Series Finals are a program record for the most in a single season.
Over three years at UT, Moore has changed quite a bit.
In his freshman season, he would eat McDonald's before every game. He said it gave him power and finesse. The trainers at UT got him on a new diet that has helped spark his game to new levels.
In an interview with WBIR, he smiled as he reflected on how far he has come.
"I think it has been great man," Moore said. "This school has done a lot for me and I'm glad to wear this orange. And be in this situation to win a national championship. We worked real hard for this situation. Over the last three years, I've tried my best to do everything and do everything to get this team to a national championship. Now that we are here I want to finish it."
In an interview WBIR did with Kavares Tears' parents, his dad Rodrick shared a photo of head coach Tony Vitello's recruits from the 2021 recruiting class. Moore was the number one name on Vitello's dry-erase board.
He didn't know that he was.
"I think that's pretty cool," he said. "I knew we had really good guys in my class, guys who went on to get drafted out of high school. I didn't think I was the number one guy but that is pretty cool."
It sure has worked out in Tennessee. He also holds the all-time program record for home runs.
When it came to how many he thought he would hit this season, he wrote in his phone the goal of 20 because he hit 17 last season.
"I got to 20 pretty quick and I said alright I guess we are going to keep going. I've hit 33 and I hope to hit more this weekend," Moore said.
Tennessee and Texas A&M begin their best-of-three game series on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. That game will be broadcast on ESPN.
