Tennessee beats North Carolina, stays perfect in College World Series

OMAHA, Neb. — The College World Series final is within Tennessee's reach.

The 1-seed Vols inched closer on Sunday, turning around after coming from behind to beat Florida State in walk off fashion and defeating 4-seed North Carolina with less dramatics just two days later, 6-1 at Charles Schwab Field to remain unbeaten in the CWS.

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The victory keeps Tennessee (57-12) in the driver's seat, clinching a semifinal berth and placing it within one game of the championship series.

The usual cast helped get the Vols there, starting with Hunter Ensley, who barreled into the wall in center field to chase down a ball and snatch some potential early momentum from the Tar Heels (48-15) that they were never quite able to recapture.

Kavares Tears hit his second home run of the CWS that put Tennessee in front for the first and final time in the fourth inning, while Reese Chapman added some cushion with a homer in the fifth.

Right-handed pitcher Drew Beam was pulled in the sixth, but not before he provided another quality start that included seven strikeouts against just three hits and one run allowed in 5.0 innings of work.

Tennessee

1. Christian Moore (R) - 2B

2. Blake Burke (L) - 1B

3. Billy Amick (R) - 3B

4. Dylan Dreiling (L) - LF

5. Hunter Ensley (R) - CF

6. Kavares Tears (L) - RF

7. Dean Curley (R) - SS

8. Reese Chapman (L) - DH

9. Cal Stark (R) - C

RHP Drew Beam

North Carolina

1. Vance Honeycutt (R) - CF

2. Casey Cook (L) - LF

3. Parks Harber (R) - 1B

4. Antony Donofrio (L) - RF

5. Gavin Gallaher (R) - 3B

6. Luke Stevenson (L) - C

7. Jackson Van De Brake (R) - DH

8. Alex Madera (L) - 2B

9. Colby Wilkerson (B) - SS

LHP Shea Sprague

Defense headlined the first two innings.

Drew Beam sent North Carolina down in order in the top of the first and Tar Heels' shortstop Colby Wilkerson followed up a diving stop with an equally impressive throw from his knees to first that robbed Christian Moore of a lead off hit to start the bottom half.

Hunter Ensley returned the favor in the second, chasing down a ball at the warning track, smacking into the wall and holding on to the ball to hold North Carolina hitless in another 1-2-3 frame.

It wasn't until the fourth inning that either team recorded a hit—a Parks Harber single that dropped into shallow right field with two outs, but Beam ensured that North Carolina did nothing with it, throwing his fifth strikeout to end the frame still scoreless.

Blake Burke gave Tennessee its first hit in the bottom half with a single to right to lead off. Dylan Dreiling followed with a one-out walk a couple of at-bats later to get two on, then Kavares Tears broke the stalemate.

For the second time in as many games, Tears' homered to right, scoring three runs and putting the Vols ahead, 3-0 with two outs.

North Carolina tried to answer back in the fifth, getting two on with back-to-back walks, but Beam again worked his way out of trouble with his seventh punch out.

Reese Chapman, who was back in the lineup as a designated hitter, made the Tar Heels pay for not making the most of runners on. He led off the bottom fifth with a home run into the bullpen in right to stretch Tennessee's lead to 4-0 and force a pitching change.

Vance Honeycutt managed to get to Beam to lead off the sixth, hitting a home run to left to put North Carolina on the board for the first time at 4-1. Two hits followed, putting a pair of runners on with no outs and ending Beam's night.

Reliever Kirby Connell entered and got the Vols out of it without further damage, stranding a runner at third with a strikeout.

Dean Curley got one back for Tennessee in the sixth, singling up the middle and scoring Chapman to go up 5-1.

Tears continued an impressive CWS performance with an RBI double down the line in right to add some insurance in the eighth and reliever Nate Snead put the Tar Heels away in the ninth.

1. Hunter Ensley robs North Carolina of hit with spectacular catch in center field.

2. Kavares Tears breaks game open in the fourth inning with three-run home run.

3. Reese Chapman extends Tennessee's lead with lead off homer in the fifth.

Tennessee's two wins in three days gives the Vols some much-needed rest.

Tennessee will press on in the winners bracket, but not before getting two days off and playing again on Wednesday in Game 11 at 1 p.m. ET on ESPN.

The Vols will draw the winner of Florida State and North Carolina, which will play in Game 9 on Tuesday (1 p.m. ET, ESPN).

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