Tennessee players explain what a national championship would mean to them

The 2024 Tennessee baseball team is chasing history against Texas A&M in Omaha this weekend.

It’s been over 70 years since the Vols have made the national championship series and have never won it all. Looking to be the first team to break that barrier and become NCAA champions for the first time in program history, that fact isn’t lost on the players on the current Tennessee roster.

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“It would be awesome,” pitcher Kirby Connell said ahead of Game 1. “This is something that we’ve talked about for my five years, is trying to win a national championship. And I think this group — we’ve spent a lot of time together. We talk about that’s our main goal is to try to win a national championship.

“We get to a three-round fight this weekend. And try to be the first team to win two games.”

The Vols haven’t skipped a beat since entering the postseason. Not only did Tennessee enter the conference tournament as the No. 1 seed, but they had just secured a share of the SEC regular season title in the regular season finale. Since then, they’ve won 12 of their 14 games this postseason, including winning Tennessee’s fifth SEC Tournament championship and boasting an 8-1 record including being 3-0 in Omaha throughout its stay in the NCAA Tournament.

Now, only two wins separate the Vols from etching this team into the Tennessee history books forever.

“I think it would definitely be special, especially for the guys that have done so much to help us to get us to where we’re at now, the players that came before us,” outfielder Kavares Tears said. “And also for the fans and family that have sacrificed so much, so much of their time to come watch us and give us their support, I think it definitely would be something special for everybody.”

First, however, they’ll have to down the Aggies. Although the Volunteers did not face Texas A&M in a three-game series during the regular season, they did square off against them during the SEC Tournament. In the heated battle, Tennessee walked away with a 7-4 victory.

The Vols will look to replicate that effort during the best-of-three series against the Aggies. Game 1 is scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m. ET. The opening matchup will air live on ESPN.