The top-seeded Tennessee Volunteers are used to having their backs against the wall. They’ve had 30 comeback victories this season, so clearly it’s a spot they seem to enjoy. One of those comebacks came on Sunday, when they had to have it to force a winner-take-all Game 3 in the CWS Finals. Tennessee slugger Christian Moore knew his team was determined to pull out the victory against Texas A&M.
Christian Moore and his teammates weren’t ready to go home
Following the win, he spoke to several members of the media, including Avarie Howard.
What is it that makes this team so good at comebacks? “Well, it’s just kinda how our program is. I was gonna say, you know. We always say we’re one inning away. So if a team flinches first. We know we’ve gotta hit. They gotta hit nine times. So, I mean, we’re gonna give it every shot we have. And this team, we’re not gonna give up. Even with two strikes, we’re gonna keep going. It’s a dangerous thing when all nine guys will fight and compete. And we’ve been showing that here,” Moore explained.
The Volunteers haven’t lost back-to-back games since March 17th. What was the conversation they had in the locker room last night to reset and get ready for the game on Sunday? “Really. It’s our game tomorrow. We kinda knew they were low on arms or whatever the situation was. And we knew that we had Beam going. And we didn’t, we didn’t want to lose today. I’ll just be honest. We weren’t losing. You could tell in the dugout we were so determined to get the job done. It wasn’t pretty. You know, obviously the offense wasn’t the offense that people are used to. But we got the job done. We didn’t want to play our last game tonight. And I think we played like that,” Moore continued.
Christian Moore was the first player in the Tennessee dugout to have his hands in the air when Cal Stark blasted his two-run home run. How happy is he for his teammate?
“I’m so happy for him man. We talked about it in the dugout. We’ve both been kind of struggling a little bit. You know today, yesterday. So, just talking to him. And he said, ‘dude I don’t have a hit yet.’ And I was like, just hit a homer. What’s the worst that could happen? And he actually did it. So, I mean, it was pretty cool. You know, Cal’s my boy. Just so happy for him,” the Tennessee slugger explained.
Stark delivered a game-changing two-run homer on Sunday, giving the Volunteers a 4-1 lead in the top of the 8th inning.
How does Moore feel about the opportunity to win a national title on Monday night? “I think I mean, it’s every kid’s dream. I don’t want to say I led this team by myself but I had help with Blake and Billy and a boatload of guys in this program. But we’re just determined to win and you know, we want to bring this home,” Moore finished.
Tennessee will try to win their first ever national title in baseball on Monday night. The game will be nationally televised on ESPN at 7 p.m. EST.
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