Tennessee baseball is back in Omaha for the College World Series. It’s the third time in the past four years the Vols will be competing at the ‘Greatest Show on Dirt’ and it’ll be the seventh time in program history.
Monday night, it was announced that Tennessee’s first game against Florida State will be played on Friday at 7 p.m. Eastern Time and will be televised by ESPN.
UT’s side of the bracket (Bracket 1) includes Friday challenger Florida State, along with Virginia and North Carolina. The other side of the bracket (Bracket 2) consists of Kentucky, Florida, Texas A&M and the winner from Monday night’s game between Georgia and North Carolina State.
Each side will compete in a regional set-up, featuring double-elimination, before advancing on to the College World Series Finals. The best of a three-game setup Finals round will begin on Saturday, June 22 and run through Monday, June 24 if necessary.
Tennessee (55-12) punched their ticket to the College World Series by defeating Evansville in Game 3 of the Knoxville Super regional on Sunday. Previously, the Vols swept the Knoxville regional by a combined score of 33-12 with wins over No. 4 seed Northern Kentucky, No. 3 seed Indiana and No. 2 seed Southern Miss.
All three of the programs in bracket one defeated their super regional opponent in two games as North Carolina made quick work of West Virginia, Virginia handled Kansas State and Florida State topped UConn.
Three of the four teams in bracket two handled business in two games while __ outlasting __ in game three of the Athens Super Regional finale. Elsewhere it was Florida over Clemson, Kentucky over Oregon State and Texas A&M over Oregon.
Tennessee history in the College World Series
The Volunteers are heading back the College World Series for the seventh time in program history and third time in the past four seasons. Tennessee went to the College World Series just four times in 70 years before Vitello was hired. Former Tennessee coach Rod Delmonico took the Vols to Omaha three times in an 11-year span between 1995 and 2006.
UT now ranks sixth in the Southeastern Conference with the seventh appearances in Omaha, coming in behind LSU (19), Florida (14), Mississippi State (12), South Carolina (11) and Arkansas (10). Texas, who will be joining the league next season, currently ranks first with 36 appearances in the College World Series. Nine of the last 14 national champions have come from the prestigious league.
Last season’s win over Stanford in the College World Series snapped a six-game losing streak in Omaha and was the first win since June 12, 2001 when the Vols topped Southern Cal 10-2. Under Tony Vitello, the Vols reached the College World Series in 2021, 2023 and now 2024 – while falling one game shy in 2022.
The Vols have now won three super regional series in their past four years and run the postseason record from Lindsey Nelson Stadium up to 29-8.
2023: 1-2 | 6-3 Loss to LSU, 6-4 win over Stanford, 5-0 loss to LSU
2021: 0-2 | 6-0 loss to Virginia, 8-4 loss to Texas
2005: 0-2 | 6-4 loss to Florida, 4-2 loss to Arizona State
2001: 2-2 | 21-13 loss to Miami, 19-12 win over Georgia, 10-2 win over USC, 12-6 loss to Miami
1995: 2-2 | 3-1 over Clemson, 11-1 loss to Cal state Fullerton, 6-2 win over Stanford, 11-0 loss to Cal state Fullerton
1951: 4-2 | National Runner-Up
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