Tennessee's schedule set for College World Series in Omaha
The College World Series bracket was set before Tennessee’s first pitch against Southern Miss late Monday night. All Omaha was waiting on was for the Vols to punch their ticket in the Hattiesburg Super Regional.
After Tennessee won 5-0 over Southern Miss in Game 3 at Pete Taylor Park, the Vols are headed to the College World Series for just the sixth time in program history and the second time in three years under head coach Tony Vitello.
Tennessee (43-20) will face LSU (48-15) on Saturday at 7 p.m. Eastern Time at Charles Schwab Field in Omaha. It’s the final game of the opening round in Omaha in the double-elimination format.
College World Series play starts Friday with a 2 p.m. Eastern Time start between Oral Roberts (51-12) and TCU (42-22). Virginia (50-13) and Florida (50-15) play the second game Friday, a 7 p.m. ET start on ESPN.
Wake Forest (52-10) will play Stanford (44-18) at 2 p.m. Eastern Time Friday on the Tennessee side of the bracket. Wake Forest is the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament and Stanford is in Omaha for a third straight season.
Vols advance to College World Series for second time in three years
Tennessee lost two of three at LSU in its SEC regular-season series in Baton Rouge, losing 5-2 on March 30 and 6-4 on March 31 to a Tiger team that was ranked No. 1 at the time. Vitello’s team bounced back for a 14-7 win on April 1 in the series finale.
The Vols had their season on the line after losing 5-3 to Southern Miss in Game 1 of the three-game series in the Hattiesburg Super Regional Sunday afternoon. They rallied from down 4-0 to win 8-4 in Game 2, forcing Monday night’s Game 3, which was delayed four hours by inclement weather.
Vitello took Tennessee to Omaha in 2021 after sweeping through the regional and super regional rounds in Knoxville, beating LSU at Lindsey Nelson Stadium to make their return to Omaha. The Vols were done after two games though, losing to Virginia and Texas to see their season come to an end.
Tennessee went 0-for-2 at the College World Series in 2005 as well, losing to Florida 6-4 and then falling to Arizona State 4-2 two days later.
Up Next: Tennessee vs. LSU, Saturday, 7 p.m. ET, ESPN
The Vols lost their CWS opener in 2001 in Omaha, falling 21-13 to Miami, but bounced back with a 19-12 win over Georgia and a 10-2 win over USC before being eliminated in a 12-6 loss in a rematch with Miami.
Tennessee beat Clemson 5-3 in its first game in Omaha in 1995, but lost 11-1 to Cal State Fulton two days later. After that it was a 6-2 win over Stanford, but Fullerton delivered the season-ending loss 11-0 when the two teams met again.
The Vols finished runner up in Omaha in 1951, losing 7-1 to Utah in their opening game at the College World Series, then rattling off four straight wins, beating Princeton, Springfield, USC and Utah, before losing to Oklahoma 3-2.
Vitello has taken Tennessee to the Super Regional round three straight years while the Vols have only advanced that far six times in program history. After sweeping LSU in the three-game series in 2021, the Vols were upset by Notre Dame as the No. 1 overall seed a year ago, losing in three games.
