OMAHA, Neb. — Kavares Tears and Reese Chapman hit home runs, Drew Beam held North Carolina to one hit over five scoreless innings, and Tennessee secured a 6-1 victory Sunday night to take control of its bracket at the Men’s College World Series.
The Volunteers (57-12), aiming to become the first No. 1 national seed since 1999 to win the championship, will move to the best-of-three finals if they defeat either Florida State (48-16) or North Carolina (48-15) on Wednesday. Florida State and North Carolina will play an elimination game on Tuesday.
For the first time, the Vols are 2-0 in a MCWS, and they would need to lose twice to be denied their first finals appearance. This means downtown Omaha will be crowded with orange-clad fans throughout the week. Tennessee is the sixth No. 1 national seed to start 2-0 in Omaha.
“Just happy we put ourselves in this spot,” Beam said. “It’s been awesome seeing the number of fans who have shown up from Knoxville and all over the country, wearing orange. This is a pretty special place to us, and it’s awesome the fans get to come enjoy it and watch us play our game.”
Beam (9-2) limited North Carolina to three baserunners through five innings, and his team led 4-0 when he took the mound in the sixth.
Tar Heels starter Shea Sprague (3-2) retired nine of the first
