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Perfect Game nets two Vols as Preseason All-Americans

On3 imageby:Eric Cain•about 20 hours•

_Cainer

Nate Snead
Credit: UT Athletics Communications

A day after Perfect Game positioned Tennessee baseball fifth in the preseason national rankings, the publication has named two Vols as preseason All-Americans ahead of the 2025 campaign.

Sophomore shortstop Dean Curley and junior relief pitcher Nate Snead were both named to the second-team.

Curley had a banner year as a freshman on Rocky Top (literally) as the 6-foot-3, 212-pounder picked up Freshman All-American honors from D1 Baseball and Baseball America, was named to the SEC All-Freshmen Teram, was named to the College World series All-Tournament Team and was a 2024 USA Baseball Collegiate National Team Participant following his rookie campaign. The true freshman starting shortstop for the Big Orange hit .285 with 12 home runs and 50 RBI in 67 games played. Curley tallied 63 hits, scored 51 runs and walked 31 times.

The second-year player recently checked in at No. 24 on MLB.com’s Top 100 Draft Prospects for 2025.  

Snead, a hard-throwing righty, burst onto the scene in SEC play last season after transferring in from Wichita State. He was a USA Baseball Collegiate National Team Participant last summer after logging 75.1 innings, in a variety of roles, with a 10-2 record over 29 appearances and one start. The 6-foot-2, 212-pounder struck out 61, walked 26 and locked down six saves out of the bullpen.  

The right-handed pitcher came in at No. 69 on MLB.com’s Top 100 Draft Prospects for 2025.

Tennessee baseball was ranked fifth by Perfect Game in the first edition of such preseason rankings that were announced Monday afternoon.

Tony Vitello’s bunch came in behind Texas A&M, who they outlasted in the CWS Finals in Omaha last season, who lead the rankings at No. 1. LSU chimes in with a second-place position while Virginia and Georgia are right in front of the Volunteers in third and fourth. Florida State, Texas, Clemson, Duke and Oregon State round out the top-10 of the Perfect Game preseason rankings.

In total, 10 teams from the Southeastern Conference were ranked inside the top-25 with six 2024 College World Series programs present.    

The Vols (60-13) finished the 2024 season with the first national championship in program history and became the first team from the Southeastern Conference to eclipse the 60-win marker in a single season. Tennessee went an impressive 10-2 in the NCAA Baseball Tournament and snapped the ‘curse’ of No. 1 overall seeds not winning the title, a streak that dated back to Miami in 1999.  

Tennessee’s 60 wins last year were the most of any team since Florida State in 2002 and the most of any national champion since Wichita State in 1989. It was the second straight trip to the College World Series in Omaha for Tennessee, the third in four years and the first time the Vols played for a national title since their first trip there in 1951. 

Tennessee Baseball in the 2025 Preseason Rankings

Perfect Game – No. 5

Tennessee Vols 2025 Preseason Accolades

SS Dean Curley: Second-Team All-American (Perfect Game)
RHP Nate Snead: Second-Team All-American (Perfect Game)

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