Where Tennessee baseball is currently projected in the NCAA Tournament field

Tennessee baseball remained a No. 2 seed in NCAA Tournament projections this week from both Baseball America and D1 Baseball. Baseball America has the Vols inching closer to the possibility of hosting a regional, though.

Baseball America has the Vols as a No. 2 seed in Indiana State’s regional, with Indiana State as the No. 16 national seed. The top 16 seeds in the tournament host regionals. Iowa is the No. 3 seed in the Indiana State regional and Wright State is the No. 4 seed.

D1 Baseball has Tennessee as a No. 2 seed in the West Virginia regional, with WVU as the No. 6 seed nationally. Notre Dame is the No. 3 seed in the WVU regional projection with Rider as the No. 4 seed.

D1Baseball last week had Tennessee projected as a No. 2 seed in the Coastal Carolina regional, with North Carolina State as the No. 3 seed and Wofford as the No. 4. Baseball America had the Vols as a No. 2 seed in the Indiana State regional, with Notre Dame as the No. 3 seed, Central Michigan as the No. 4 and Indiana State as the No. 15 overall seed.

Vols close regular-season schedule with weekend series at South Carolina

The Vols won two of three against Kentucky at Lindsey Nelson Stadium over the weekend and beat Belmont 9-5 Tuesday night in Knoxville. Tennessee started the Kentucky series with a 10-6 win Friday and took the series with a 10-7 win Saturday, before being shutout in a 10-0 loss Sunday afternoon in Knoxville.

Now Tennessee (36-17, 14-13 SEC) finishes the regular-season schedule with a weekend series on the road at South Carolina (37-15, 15-11) on Thursday, scheduled for a 7 p.m. Eastern Time start on SEC Network+. First pitch Friday is set for 7 p.m. ET on SEC Network+ and the regular-season schedule ends Saturday with a 2 p.m. ET start on SEC Network.

The SEC Tournament will be held May 23-28 at Hoover Met Stadium in Hoover, Ala. Tennessee is currently fourth in the SEC standings, one game behind Kentucky and 1.5 games behind South Carolina. Florida and Vanderbilt are tied atop the SEC East with 17-9 records. 

Tennessee stayed at No. 23 in the RPI after the loss to Kentucky on Sunday. The Wildcats are ranked No. 1 in RPI. South Carolina is up to No. 3 in the RPI, up one spot from last week. The Gamecocks are coming off a series loss at Arkansas, losing two of three in Fayetteville against the Razorbacks. 

Up Next: Tennessee at South Carolina, Thursday, 7 p.m. ET, SEC Network+

The Vols moved up to a No. 9 nationally in this week’s rankings from Perfect Game, up two spots from last week. They’re ranked No. 18 by D1 Baseball, up three spots from last week. They’re ranked No. 19 by USA Today, up one spot from last week, and up six spots in Baseball America’s Top 25, ranked No. 19. Collegiate Baseball Newspaper dropped Tennessee one spot to No. 29.

Charlotte beat South Carolina 11-9 Tuesday night in Columbia. The Gamecocks have lost three straight SEC series, dropping two of three at Arkansas, getting swept at Kentucky and losing two of three at home against Auburn. The skid started after a sweep of Florida in Columbia in April.

Tennessee’s win over Belmont improved the Vols to 33-5 at home this season. They’re just 2-11 on the road, though. 

“Our best way to try to win a series is to compete in the first game,” Vitello said. “They’re at home. It’s a tough place to play. I’m sure they expect to hold court or hold serve there.”