Wait continues as Maroon & White finish one win shy of immortality

Press conference courtesy of the NCAA

Game #68: #1 Tennessee 6, #3 Texas A&M 5
Records: Texas A&M (53-15, 19-11), Tennessee (60-13, 22-8)
WP: Zander Sechrist (6-1) 
LP: Justin Lamkin (3-3)
Save: Aaron Combs (6)
Box Score

OMAHA, Neb. — "The waiting is the hardest part."

The late Tom Petty has no idea.

Texas A&M baseball's 144-year-long wait to top the college baseball world continues following a 6-5 loss to Tennessee in a winner-take-all Men's College World Series ballgame on Monday night.

"First of all, congratulations to the University of Tennessee," A&M head coach Jim Schlossnagle said postgame. "What an awesome, awesome team. Great series."

For the Volunteers, it's their first national title in program history.

In doing so, they took back-to-back games to prevent the Aggies from getting their long-awaited moment of glory.

"Couldn't be more proud of our team," Schlossnagle said. "Honored to be at Texas A&M and honored to be part of the 12th Man. Special, special experience every year."

As baseball often is, Monday's affair in front of 24,685 at Charles Schwab Field Omaha was decided by timely hitting.

Of Tennessee's six runs, five scored with two outs. The only one that didn't was Christian Moore's solo blast off Justin Lamkin in the first.

"Same number of hits. Same number of errors," the Aggie skipper said. "Probably the difference in the ball game was timely hits, and some of their hits were homers, and ours weren't."

Baseball is also a game of inches.

The Vols' sixth and decisive run came when Hunter Ensley scored from first on a Kavares Tears double, barely avoiding Jackson Appel's tag on a play at the plate.

That made it 6-1 in the seventh.

"We just played in the last game of the frickin' 2024 season," A&M designated hitter Hayden Schott said. "The belief was there. The belief, of course, was there. Our team loves each other, man."

The Columbia product finished 3-for-5 with an RBI. As did fellow Ivy League transfer Jackson Appel.

Still, the Aggies attempted to rally but ultimately fell just short.

Scoring two in the eighth and two more in the ninth, A&M got the tying run to the plate in both frames.

Yet coming up empty-handed in the early innings hurt.

"Battle," a teary Schott said. "I'm not going to sit here and say that we didn't have good at-bats. I mean, there's no panic, man. Down 6-1, whatever it is, we have full belief in whoever is up."

Jamie Maury

Texas A&M finishes a historic 2024 campaign with a 53-15 record.

A&M scored once — a Travis Chestnut-manufactured run in the third — before the late comeback attempt as Tennessee starter Zander Sechrist frustrated the Aggies through 5.1 innings.

Over the first seven frames, they stranded eight and 10 total.

Trailing 3-1, the reliable Evan Aschenbeck entered in the sixth in an attempt to keep the deficit where it was.

But Dylan Dreiling's third two-run home run in as many days pushed it to 5-1 an inning later. The Vols also added one more all-important insurance run.

And so, the Aggies finished one win shy of immortality at 53-15.

And in the end, A&M's wait goes on.

And the hardest part got even harder.

NOTE

Earlier on Monday, Texas relieved head coach David Pierce of his head coaching duties after eight years in Austin.

As rumors begin to circulate, Schlossnagle's name has been mentioned as a possibility.

I asked the difficult question at the difficult time and tried to do so as respectfully as possible to the emotions of the Aggie head coach.

Schlossnagle told me to write his answer, and I will:

Q: With respect to the difficult outcome tonight but with the rumors circulating today about a specific job opening, what do you have to say about your future in Aggieland?

Schlossnagle: "I think it's pretty selfish of you to ask me that question, to be honest with you. But I left my family to be the coach at Texas A&M. I took the job at Texas A&M to never take another job again. And that hasn't changed in my mind.

"That's unfair to talk about something like that. That would be like you asking Montgomery if he's going to sign in the draft. But I understand you've got to ask the question. But I gave up a big part of my life to come take this job. And I poured every ounce of my soul into this job, and I gave this job every ounce I could possibly give it. Write that."