Start time set for Tennessee baseball's NCAA Tournament opener against Charlotte
Tennessee baseball’s NCAA Tournament opener against Charlotte on Friday will start at 6 p.m. Eastern Time on ESPNU. Clemson, the regional host, will face Lipscomb at 1 p.m. ET Friday on ESPN+.
The Vols (38-19) are the No. 2 seed in the Clemson Regional and Charlotte (34-26) is the No. 3 seed. Clemson is the No. 4 overall seed. The winner of the Clemson Regional’s double-elimination format advances to face the winner from the Auburn Regional, which includes Auburn, the No. 13 overall seed, along with Samford, Southern Miss and Penn.
The 64 teams are divided into 16 four-team regionals, with the top 16 overall seeds hosting regional play in the double-elimination format. The host sites were announced Sunday night: Alabama, Auburn, Arkansas, Clemson, Coastal Carolina, Florida, Indiana State, Kentucky, LSU, Miami, Oklahoma State, South Carolina, Stanford, Vanderbilt, Virginia and Wake Forest.
Vols were widely projected as a No. 2 seed
Tennessee was one-and-done in the SEC Tournament in Hoover, losing 3-0 to Texas A&M Tuesday afternoon while managing to get just one hit. The Vols have been off since then, waiting for Monday’s bracket release.
Most bracket projections on Sunday had Tennessee as a No. 2 seed and on the road in regional play, possibly at Indiana State. D1Baseball.com on Sunday had the Vols in the Terre Haute Regional, with Indiana State as the No. 16 seed.
Tony Vitello’s team hasn’t been on the road in the NCAA postseason since 2019, when they finished second in the North Carolina regional in Chapel Hill.
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Tennessee set a single-season program record with 57 wins last season, finishing 57-9 but missing out on back-to-back trips to the College World Series after losing to Notre Dame in the Super Regional Round at Lindsey Nelson Stadium.
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The Vols started the season a blistering 30-1 and at one point had won 23 straight games, another program record. They started SEC play 12-0, with four straight sweeps, then beat Vanderbilt, LSU, Kentucky and Florida over the course of four days to win the SEC Tournament in Hoover.
Tennessee earned the No. 1 overall seed in the field of 64 and beat Alabama State, Campbell and Georgia Tech to advance out of the Knoxville Regional. Notre Dame won 8-6 in Game 1 of the Super Regional and the Vols bounced back with a 12-4 win in Game 2. The season ended with a 7-3 loss in Game 3.
The 50-win Tennessee team in 2021 went to the College World Series in Omaha after winning the SEC East, finishing second in the SEC Tournament and going 5-0 in Regional and Super Regional play at home. The Vols beat Wright State and Liberty twice in Regional play, then swept LSU in the Super Regional at Lindsey Nelson Stadium.
Tennessee won 40 games in 2019 but finished runner-up in the Chapel Hill Regional. The Vols lost to Liberty to open regional play, but bounced back with a win over UNC Wilmington and won the rematch against Liberty, before falling to North Carolina.
