HOOVER, Ala. — Tennessee baseball beat Texas A&M in the third round of the SEC Tournament Thursday afternoon. The Vols beat the Aggies, 7-4, inside Hoover Metropolitan Stadium, advancing to the fourth round.
Texas A&M found the scoreboard first in the third inning, and Vols' starter Chris Stamos' first hit allowed was a solo home run from Gavin Grahovac to put the Aggies ahead 1-0.
Tennessee quickly answered in the bottom of the inning when Dylan Dreiling hit a bases-loaded sacrifice fly to send Christian Moore home to even the score 1-1. The Vols missed out on an opportunity for more runs due to poor baserunning from Blake Burke that resulted in him getting thrown out at home.
The Vols pulled ahead in the fourth inning thanks to a Christian Moore RBI groundout with the bases loaded to make it a 2-1 game, but once again that was the only run Tennessee managed in that situation.
Kavares Tears added to the advantage in the fifth inning. He hit a two-out double to right field to score Dylan Dreiling and get Tennessee ahead 3-1.
Texas A&M left the yard again in the sixth inning when Jackson Appel got to AJ Causey for a solo home run to cut the deficit back to one run and make it a 3-2 game. Causey let up a single to the next batter but got out of the inning and stranded the runner on first.
Tears came up clutch again in the bottom of the second with a three-run blast to left field that put the Vols up 6-2 and created some breathing room for Tennessee.
Kirby Connell came into the game for AJ Causey in the eighth inning with a runner on and allowed an RBI double as Texas A&M cut back into the lead and made it a 6-3 game, but Connell stranded a runner on third to end the half inning.
Cal Stark tacked on another run in the eighth inning with a solo home run to give the Vols a 7-3 lead. Connell closed out the game with his second strikeout, however, at the top of the ninth, he gave up a hit and a home run to make the final score 7-4.
Tennessee advances to the fourth round of the SEC Tournament. The Vols will play the winner of Mississippi State and Vanderbilt in Game 2 on Friday.
