What seemed a near lock last month became more precarious down the stretch of the regular season. But in the end, the Tennessee baseball team still managed to receive a national seed in the NCAA Division I Baseball Championships.
The Vols are the No. 14 seed and will begin their national title defense at Lindsey Nelson Stadium Friday at 6 p.m. ET against Miami (Ohio) in the double-elimination format. Wake Forest and Cincinnati are the other teams in the Knoxville Regional.
Should the Vols advance, it could set up a potentially spicy Super Regional against No. 3 Arkansas in Fayetteville.
Tennessee (43-16, 16-4) is hosting a regional for the fourth time in the last five seasons. The Vols are one of an NCAA Tournament record 13 teams from the SEC to make the field, including a record-tying eight regional hosts – No. 1 Vanderbilt, No. 2 Texas, No. 3 Arkansas, No. 4 Auburn, No. 6 LSU, No. 7 Georgia, No. 10 Ole Miss and No. 14 Tennessee.
The Vols have won their last six regionals in Knoxville. Tennessee is 23-5 all-time in NCAA regional games played at Lindsey Nelson Stadium, including a perfect 9-0 record during the Tony Vitello era (2021, 2022, 2024).
“It’s very difficult to do, to quote a smart baseball person I spoke with yesterday,” UT head coach Tony Vitello says of earning a regional hosting spot. “But the biggest thing is, we were 12 days on the road (at the SEC Tournament) so I think the guys needed to get back. … It was a taxing trip. It was a valuable one for our guys. But it’s important for us to sleep in our own beds, recover and use our weight room.”
Lady Vols make WCWS field
It will be an exciting few days on the diamond for UT fans. The No. 7 Lady Vols softball team beat Nebraska Sunday in a decisive Game 3 of the NCAA Knoxville Super Regional to return to the Women’s College World Series for the second time in three years and the ninth time overall.
Junior ace Karlyn Pickens threw a two-hit shutout with 10 strikeouts and Ella Dodge hit a first-inning home run as the Lady Vols punched their ticket to Oklahoma City with a 1-0 victory over the Huskers at Sherri Parker Lee Stadium. In Game 2 of the series, Pickens broke her own NCAA record for fastest pitch ever thrown by delivering a 79.4 mph pitch in the first inning.
The Lady Vols open the WCWS Thursday afternoon against No. 2 Oklahoma, which they beat in the SEC regular-season series in Norman.
‘A little different animal’
Tennessee baseball ended the regular season on a downswing, losing five straight SEC series and six of the last seven. The Vols regrouped to make a run to the semifinals of the SEC Tournament last week in Hoover, Alabama. The Vols beat Alabama and Texas to reach the semifinals, where they were run-ruled by tournament champion Vanderbilt.
The wins over Alabama and Texas likely helped position the Vols to earn a regional hosting position as most prognosticators had them on the very edge.
“It would be awesome,” UT outfielder Hunter Ensley says of the opportunity to host before the bracket was released. “Obviously, love playing in that stadium. To be honest with you, it doesn’t really matter whether we’re home or away. I’m just looking forward to competing a few more times.”
Rather than trying to shift the rotation to save a certain starter for a higher seed, Vitello expects to keep the same pitching plan with Liam Doyle throwing Friday and Marcus Phillips Saturday.
Doyle, the SEC Pitcher of the Year, enters the NCAA Tournament with a 9-3 record, 3.04 ERA and 142 strikeouts in 83 innings. Phillips is 3-4 with a 3.64 ERA in 71.1 IP.
“That has kind of been the order that held true through the season until we had schedule quirks with the Thursday series and the tournament,” Vitello says. “Regardless of how we do it, we are not looking to outstrategize anybody this time of year. Just outcompete people or compete to the best of our abilities and hopefully that gets us where we want.”
Although UT hit a few bumps in the road during the regular season, the program has the formula for success in the postseason. Ensley hopes the Vols gained some momentum at the SEC Tournament that they can carry back home for the start of the NCAA regional.
“I thought we looked good against Bama and then the fight against Texas was good for the team,” he says. “I just thought we showed more fight than we have the few weekends prior, so definitely going to carry that forward with us.”