Tennessee beats FSU, makes first MCWS finals in modern era - ESPN

OMAHA, Neb. — Tennessee will play in the College World Series finals for the first time in the modern era after it knocked out Florida State with a 7-2 victory on Wednesday to win its bracket.

Zander Sechrist held the Seminoles scoreless for six innings and the Volunteers struck for four early runs to become the first No. 1 national seed since 2009 to advance to the best-of-three finals.

Tennessee's win assured an all-SEC finals for the second straight year and third time in four. The Volunteers (58-12) will play Texas A&M or Florida for the championship beginning Saturday. The Southeastern Conference will have at least one team in the finals for the 15th time in 16 years.

The Seminoles (49-17) came into the game still smarting from their 12-11 loss to Tennessee in their CWS opener. They were up 11-8 going into the bottom of the ninth inning of that game. The third-base umpire's call on Blake Burke's check swing with two strikes and two outs went against FSU, and Dylan Dreiling drove in the winning run in the Vols' walk-off win.

Tennessee left no doubt about the outcome in the rematch while completing a three-game sweep through bracket play.

The Vols made it to a one-game final in their first CWS appearance in 1951, losing 3-2 to Oklahoma. In those days, there were no preliminary rounds in the NCAA tournament; teams were selected for the CWS based on regular-season performance.

The Vols broke through under coach Tony Vitello after winning a combined one of five games in trips to Omaha in 2021 and 2023. They'll try to become the first top seed to win the championship since Miami in 1999.

FSU coach Link Jarrett started freshman John Abraham instead of ace Jamie Arnold, who pitched Friday and would have been coming off four