Kavares Tears and Reese Chapman homered, Drew Beam limited North Carolina to one hit over five shutout innings, and Tennessee took control of its bracket at the Men’s College World Series with a 6-1 win Sunday night.
The Volunteers (57-12), trying to become the first No. 1 national seed since 1999 to win the championship, will advance to the best-of-three finals if they can beat Florida State (48-16) or North Carolina (48-15) on Wednesday. Those teams will meet Tuesday in an elimination game.
The Vols, 2-0 in a MCWS for the first time, would have to lose twice to be denied their first finals appearance, meaning the streets of downtown Omaha will be filled with orange-clad fans most of the coming week. They’re the sixth No. 1 national seed to start 2-0 in Omaha.