After surprising opening losses in the College World Series, two top five teams faced elimination on Tuesday afternoon in Omaha. Tennessee and Texas — the No. 3 and No. 2 national seeds in the NCAA Tournament — met with everything on the line.
And it was a wild one, at least early on.
Tennessee sent freshman Blade Tidwell to the mound, while Texas tapped Tristan Stevens. The Tennessee bats got to Stevens early and often.
The top of the second got rolling with a Drew Gilbert single, followed by a Luc Lipcius walk. Jordan Beck quickly knocked in Gilbert to earn a 1-0 lead.