Tennessee

From Cannon Peebles to Dylan Dreiling, Tennessee baseball’s win vs Florida State had many heroes

Published

1 year ago

June 15, 2024

From Cannon Peebles to Dylan Dreiling, Tennessee baseball’s win vs Florida State had many heroes

OMAHA, Neb. — Dylan Dreiling kicked his legs from side to side.

The Tennessee baseball outfielder glanced up in the on-deck circle as Florida State reliever Connor Hults warmed up. He didn’t need to watch much. He knew what was coming.

The scouting report told Dreiling that Hults threw 100% curveballs in his last outing. Dreiling sold out believing Hults would do it again — and he did.

Two pitches later, a shirtless Dreiling gallivanted around the outfield at Charles Schwab Field, overcome by his overjoyed teammates amid the hysteria of a walk-off winner Friday in the College World Series.

“I just knew Dylan was going to get it done,” outfielder Kavares Tears said. “It was a matter of time. It’s Dylan Dreiling.”

Dreiling belted the winning hit into left-center field for the finishing touch on an improbable ninth-inning rally in a 12-11 win against the Seminoles. The plucky push spanned eight hitters, resulted in four runs and cemented itself as the latest rendition of Tennessee late-game lore.

Tennessee baseball never stopped fighting vs Florida State

Christian Moore took his one big swing to tie the game. He fouled off the fastball he hunted and turned to the Tennessee dugout, where coach Tony Vitello was so wound up, he gripped a handful of dirt.

“Let’s fight,” Moore said three times.

He was down to his final strike with two outs in a two-run game when he uttered those words during Tennessee’s awakening. The Vols played sloppy baseball for the first half of the game, pairing fielding miscues with subpar pitching.

None of it mattered in the ninth inning.

“We throw jabs all game,” first baseman Blake Burke said. “We throw jabs and when we can throw a big blow, we do it.”

Tennessee unleashed all sorts of punches in the ninth inning, which it began trailing 11-8. Tears crushed a triple to center and scored on a Dean Curley sacrifice fly after the freshman fell behind 1-2.

Cannon Peebles, who has emerged as a pinch-hitting dynamo, earned a full-count walk that had a significant two-strike foul. Cal Stark popped out, but turned the lineup over in the process to Moore.

The junior had already hit for the cycle after destroying a 440-foot homer to center. He flirted with doing it again on a 2-1 pitch before reaching out to rope a double into the left-field corner. Burke strode to the plate with two on in an 11-9 game and had lofty dreams.

“I thought I was going to Drew Gilbert that at-bat,” Burke said. “I got down two strikes and I wiped that mindset and I just battled. I was working for my guys.”

Burke, whose 2-2 check swing went in UT’s favor, plastered a single to centerfield to score two. He spun to his teammates in a frenzy with the game tied.

Tennessee baseball’s ‘masterpiece’ completed by Dylan Dreiling

The realization hit Vitello pregame Friday.

Tennessee, which has a wild recent history of incredible late-game moments, didn’t have a walk-off win this season.

“Win — that kind of was the only thing going through our minds in the ninth inning,” Tears said.

Billy Amick singled to bring FSU coach Link Jarrett out to make a pitching change. He opted for Hults. Vols associate head coach Josh Elander showed the hitters the scouting report that noted Hults’ curveball commitment.

DYLAN: The summer that set Dylan Dreiling on path as Tennessee baseball’s quiet superstar

Tears took off his helmet in the dugout when Dreiling went up. He knew the game was over. Dreiling watched an inside curveball, then scalded the next offering over the FSU outfield into the gap. He watched Seminoles center fielder DeAmez Ross track the ball, but knew he wasn’t going to get it.

Dreiling shed his helmet before he reached first base. Burke did likewise as he crossed the plate as the winning run. Amick jumped for joy on the basepaths.

“It was kind of a masterpiece,” Moore said. “It was beautiful baseball right there.”

Dreiling bounded for the outfield, where his teammates chased him down and ripped off his jersey. Moore embraced him with Tennessee (56-12) advancing to play North Carolina (48-14) on Sunday (7 p.m. ET, ESPN). Outfielder Hunter Ensley picked Dreiling up.

“When you trust the eight or nine guys out there with you, you can do stuff like that — what we just did,” Moore said. “It is an insane thing but it is kind of the beauty of it.”

Vitello scooped up Dreiling’s bat after the game. He kissed it, thankful for the magic of the moment.

All it took was one pitch — and that pitch was a curveball.

Mike Wilson covers University of Tennessee athletics. Email him at michael.wilson@knoxnews.com and follow him on Twitter @ByMikeWilson. If you enjoy Mike’s coverage, consider a digital subscription that will allow you access to all of it.

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Tennessee

TN special election: Voters to decide between Republican Van Epps, Democrat Behn to fill vacant congressional seat

Published

3 hours ago

December 1, 2025

Press Room

TN special election: Voters to decide between Republican Van Epps, Democrat Behn to fill vacant congressional seat

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) – It all comes down to Tuesday, December 2, as voters will decide between Republican Matt Van Epps and Democrat Aftyn Behn to fill Tennessee’s 7th Congressional District seat left vacant by former Rep. Mark Green.

The 7th congressional seat was formerly filled by Green, a combat veteran, emergency room doctor and former state senator, who announced his retirement from politics twice to pursue a career in the private sector.

Results – Special Election: U.S. House of Representatives 7th Congressional District

District 7: The 7th Congressional District spans 14 Tennessee counties, including Benton, Cheatham, Davidson, Decatur, Dickson, Hickman, Houston, Humphreys, Montgomery, Perry, Robertson, Stewart, Wayne and Williamson.

Latest: Poll shows Republican Van Epps holding slight lead over Democrat Behn in Tennessee’s special congressional race

A new survey from Emerson College Polling/The Hill survey shows that 48% of voters support Van Epps and 46% support Behn. It also found that 2% plan to vote for one of three third-party candidates on the ballot, and 5% are undecided.

Here is the official list of candidates:

Matt Van Epps – Republican
Aftyn Behn – Democratic
Teresa “Terri” Christie – Independent
Bobby Dodge – Independent
Robert James Sutherby – Independent
Jon Thorp – Independent

Representative Aftyn Behn (D-Nashville): State representative elected in a 2023 special election who says she has “fought to keep our families safe, standing up to those who siphon wealth from our neighborhoods while stripping away our freedoms.”

Matt Van Epps: A combat veteran who worked in the Tennessee Department of General Services under Gov. Bill Lee, who says he “understands the values of hard work, personal responsibility, and service to community that define this great state.”

Previous: Trump-backed Van Epps and Democrat Behn win Tennessee primaries for US House special election

Here are when Special Election Day polls will open in each District 7 county:

Benton County – 8 a.m.
Cheatham County – 7 a.m.
Davidson County – 7 a.m.
Decatur County – 8 a.m.
Dickson County – 7 a.m.
Hickman County – 8 a.m.
Houston County – 9 a.m.
Humphreys County – 9 a.m.
Montgomery County – 7 a.m.
Perry County – 9 a.m.
Robertson County – 7 a.m.
Stewart County – 8 a.m.
Wayne County – 8 a.m.
Williamson County – 7 a.m.

All polls will close at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, December 2.

Only registered voters who live in the U.S. House District 7 are eligible to vote in this election. Voters can check which congressional district they live in and also find their polling locations here.

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Tennessee

Titans report card: How we graded Tennessee in Week 13 loss to Jaguars

Published

15 hours ago

December 1, 2025

Press Room

Titans report card: How we graded Tennessee in Week 13 loss to Jaguars

The Tennessee Titans (1-11) took a massive step backward in their Week 13 matchup against the Jacksonville Jaguars, looking more like the undisciplined, unprepared team from earlier in the season than the unit that put up a fight against the Seattle Seahawks a week ago.

Tennessee struggled to get anything going, and between penalties, poor offensive line play, and allowing too many explosive plays, they had no chance against a Jaguars team that came to play and left with a share of the AFC South division lead.

The Titans will regroup and prepare for a trip to Cleveland to face Shedeur Sanders and the Cleveland Browns.

Before we move on, here’s a quick report card from Sunday’s action.

Offense

Cam Ward was not sharp, and he got little help from his perimeter receiving corps, who could not gain separation throughout the afternoon and had too many drops. Couple that with a dismal performance on third downs, and the unit got nothing going after the initial drive of the game.

The offense started with one of its best drives of the season, mixing run and pass, but after that, the issues that had plagued them early in the season came rushing back, and the unit looked completely overmatched by the Jaguars’ defense. It was a rough outing and a definite step back.

Grade: D

Defense

The defense was better than it was against the Seahawks, but the lack of cornerback depth without Jalyn Armour-Davis was noticeable. The unit is already thin and struggles to match up with the Jaguars’ receiving corps. When you couple the secondary struggles with an invisible pass rush, it makes for a long afternoon.

While they were better this week, the defense still gave up too many big plays, got almost zero help from the offense (or special teams), and wore down.

Grade: C

Special teams

The special teams were anything but special. Between turnovers and crushing penalties, they were unable to capitalize on some opportunities and, for the most part, had a rough day.

Chimere Dike did rip off another big return and made some other plays that made an impact, but his first-quarter fumble on a kickoff return changed the momentum of the game, and the Titans never recovered. Joey Slye made his only attempt for the Titans’ only points, but that was nowhere near enough.

Grade: C

Coaching

Yes, Tennessee entered the game with some injuries and roster questions, but after the first series, it appeared completely unprepared to take the field on Sunday. In a game that turned into a flagfest with 23 combined penalties, the Titans’ lack of discipline again came to light, and they got the worst end of the penalty stick with 13, including multiple that gave the Jaguars new life.

Tennessee has shown some improvement in recent weeks, but that was far from the case this week, with the team looking more like the Brian Callahan-led unit than those that took the field against the Houston Texans and Seattle Seahawks.

Grade: D

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Tennessee

Tennessee player says Jaguars punter threatened to ‘kill me’ during Titans loss – WTOP News

Published

1 day ago

November 30, 2025

Press Room

Tennessee player says Jaguars punter threatened to ‘kill me’ during Titans loss – WTOP News

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Tennessee Titans running back Julius Chestnut said Jacksonville Jaguars punter Logan Cooke said he was going…

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Tennessee Titans running back Julius Chestnut said Jacksonville Jaguars punter Logan Cooke said he was going to kill him during Sunday’s game.

Chestnut blocked Cooke as the punter got a leg up to trip Titans returner Chimere Dike at the end of a 47-yard return with 14:06 left. Cooke was hurt and evaluated for a concussion before returning to punt at the end of the Jaguars’ next series.

The Jaguars and Titans then had another scuffle at the end of Dike’s 13-yard return with 11:49 remaining, with Chestnut and Cooke squaring off.

Officials huddled and handed out a pair of unnecessary roughness penalties to each team, and Cooke and long snapper Ross Matiscik were flagged for the Jags. Titans safety Mike Brown was ejected.

The Jaguars went on to a 25-3 win. The AFC South teams combined for 23 accepted penalties for a total of 184 yards.

“I was just trying to play hard, and he came up to me and said he was going to kill me,” Chestnut said. “So I don’t know what made him do that.”

Chestnut said he never got an explanation for why Cooke was so mad that he “came at me.”

“That was surprising to me. I ain’t never seen nothing like that before,” Chestnut said.

Cooke was not asked specifically after the game about what Chestnut said the punter told him. A message was left Sunday night seeking comment from the Jaguars.

The 6-foot-5, 230-pound Cooke said right after the loss that he likes hitting people. He said Chestnut got the best of him in an “eventful” game.

Cooke talked with the referee at halftime after punting from his own end zone late in the second quarter with a backup long snapper.

“I might have said some things that sounded rude, so I wanted to go clear the air,” Cooke said of his talk with the referee. “I don’t like people having grudges against me. So kind of telling him the situation and also find out his take on what happened on that play in the end zone.”

Jaguars coach Liam Coen said he’d like Cooke to be smarter when it comes to his flag for unnecessary roughness, but he was proud of his players for competing.

“There were some frustrations that were being built up with them rushing us the way they were with the long snapper issue, and we thought we maybe were roughed or potentially roughed at one point,” Coen said. “I don’t know if it got called or not.”

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AP Sports Writer Mark Long in Jacksonville contributed to this report.

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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl

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