Tennessee Baseball won’t have to wait to face its biggest hurdle at the College World Series: Game 1. The Vols are in Omaha for the seventh time in program history, but have won their opening game there just one time.
Even the 1951 team, which advanced to the national championship game against Oklahoma, lost its first College World Series game before playing its way out of the losers bracket with four wins over the next three days.
The 1995 Tennessee team is the only one to win Game 1, taking down Clemson on its way to finishing tied for third place, the second-best finish in program history.
No. 1 Tennessee (55-12) faces No. 8 Florida State (47-15) in the opening round of the College World Series on Friday, with first pitch scheduled for 7 p.m. Eastern Time on ESPN.
Here’s a look back at the Vols’ haunted history in Game 1 in Omaha:
1951
Utah 7, Tennessee 1: The Vols had just four hits and B.B. Hopkins drove in the only run. John Huffstetler struck out eight while throwing a complete game but took the loss while giving up seven runs on six hits.
From There: Sid Hatfield, described in Tennessee’s media guide as a backup utility man and pitcher, led the Vols to the championship game against Oklahoma despite the loss to Utah. He was named the Most Outstanding Player of the fifth annual College World Series in Omaha. He tossed a complete-game shutout in a 2-0 win over Springfield in the third round, after Tennessee rallied to beat Princeton 3-2, won a rematch with Utah 5-4 then rallied from down 6-2 to beat USC 9-8 and advance to the title game. Tennessee led Oklahoma 2-0 in the fifth, with Hatfield back on the mound while he pitched eight innings in relief, but the Sooners rallied with a run in the sixth, seventh and eight innings to win 3-2 and take home the title.
1995
Tennessee 3, Clemson 1: After a 44-year wait, Tennessee returned to the College World Series in 1995 and the wait paid off. At least for Game 1. The fifth-seeded Vols beat No. 4 Clemson 3-1 thanks to a complete game from All-American and National Player of the Year Todd Helton, who gave up the lone run on four hits, with two walks and nine strikeouts. Scott Schroeffel was 2-for-4 at the plate with a double, a home run and two runs scored.
From There: Cal State Fullerton, on its way to winning the national championship, sent Tennessee to the losers bracket in an 11-1 win in the second round, with Helton driving in the only run. The Vols fought off elimination with a win over Stanford, 6-2, but came up short against Cal State Fullerton again in the rematch, 11-0. Tennessee finished tied for third.
2001
Miami 21, Tennessee 13: There was no shortage of offense for the Vols in Game 1 in 2001, when they scored 13 runs on a season-high 21 hits. But Miami jumped out to a 9-0 lead thanks to a seven-run second inning. The game included five single-game records broken for College World Series games at Rosenblatt Stadium and two more records tied. It was also the longest nine-inning CWS game, lasting four hours and 21 minutes.
From There: Kris Bennett, who had three RBI against Miami in Game 1, went 6-for-6 and drove in seven runs to tie the CWS RBI record in Tennessee’s next game, a 19-12 win over Georgia. The Vols then stayed alive with a 10-2 win over Southern Cal but were sent home in another loss to Miami, 12-6. Tennessee finished tied for third.
2005
Florida 6, Tennessee 4: Former coach Rod Delmonico had Tennessee in Omaha for the third time in 11 years, but the Vols matched up with a familiar foe in Florida and trailed the Gators 6-1 after six innings. Tennessee rallied to score three runs in the seventh, but that’s as close as the score would get.
From There: Tennessee met Arizona State in the losers bracket but led 2-0 after five innings, thanks to a home run from freshman J.P. Arencibia and an RBI double from Josh Alley. The Sun Devils got on the board with a run in the seventh then scored three runs to take the lead for good in the eighth, sending Tennessee home tied for seventh place.
2021
Virginia 6, Tennessee 0: The Vols made a long-awaited return to Omaha in 2021 sitting on 50 wins, but the wait for winning a game in the College World Series continued. Tennessee had two runners on base with no outs in the first, fifth and sixth innings, but never scored a run. The Vols left eight runners on base while getting shutout. Virginia opened the scoring with a solo home run in the third inning and scored four in the seventh.
From There: Tennessee met Texas in the losers bracket and jumped out to a 2-0 lead after the top of the second. The Longhorns answered with a three-run home run in the bottom of the inning and were up 4-2 when Connor Pavolony and Liam Spence tied the game with RBI singles in the top of the fourth. Texas again countered quickly, scoring three runs in the bottom of the fourth to go ahead for good.
2023
LSU 6, Tennessee 3: The Vols made it two trips to Omaha in three years after going on the road in regional and super regional play to punch their ticket to the College World Series. It was there in Game 1 that Tennessee ran into LSU pitcher Paul Skenes. The National Player of the Year and College World Series MVP was spotted a 5-0 lead and worked 7.2 innings, giving up just two runs on five hits, with 12 strikeouts and one walk. Christian Scott scored on an RBI single from Maui Abuna and Hunter Hensley added a home run to get the Vols within 5-3, before LSU added an insurance run in the eighth.
From There: Stanford jumped out to a 4-0 lead over Tennessee in the losers bracket, but Tennessee answered with six straight runs to rally for the 6-4 win. It was the first win in a College World Series game for the Vols in 22 years, dating back to the 10-2 win over USC in 2001. LSU got in the way again, though, this time getting a dominant outing from lefty Nate Ackenhausen, who limited the Vols to just four hits over six innings, striking out seven without issuing a walk. Tennessee finished tied for fifth after going 1-2 in Omaha.
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