Game 1 schedule, TV info released for Tennessee-Southern Miss Super Regional
Tennessee baseball’s Super Regional against Southern Miss will start Saturday with Game 1 at 3 p.m. Eastern Time at Pete Taylor Park in Hattiesburg. The game will be televised by ESPNU.
The three-game series will continue with Game 2 on Sunday, with game time and TV information to be determined. Game 3, if necessary, will be played on Monday with start time and TV also to be determined.
Tennessee (41-19) advanced out of the Clemson Regional, beating Charlotte twice and taking down Clemson, the No. 4 national seed, on its home field. Southern Miss (45-18) lost its first game in the Auburn Regional, 4-2 to Samford in 10 innings, then won four straight elimination games against Auburn, the No. 13 national seed, Samford and Penn, beating Penn Sunday night and Monday afternoon to advance.
Tennessee moves up to No. 12 in updated RPI
The Golden Eagles also had to win back-to-back elimination games to win the Sun Belt Tournament championship. After losing to Appalachian State, the No. 6 seed in the tournament, USM won in a rematch with the Mountaineers and then beat Louisiana in the title game.
Before beating Auburn in the Auburn Regional on Saturday, Southern Miss went 0-3 against SEC teams during the regular season, losing 13-0 at Alabama, 11-5 at Ole Miss and 10-9 at Mississippi State.
Tennessee is No. 12 in the updated RPI standings while Southern Miss is No. 17.
Tennessee coach Tony Vitello said Monday during a radio appearance in Knoxville that his Vols were deserving of hosting a Super Regional based on those RPI numbers, the conference his team plays in and the regional it had to come out of.
“If Southern Miss wins, then the best thing I can think of is you compare conference, you compare RPI,” Vitello said.
Top 10
- 1
Historic upset of No. 1 Vols
Florida makes history
- 2New
Cotton Bowl weather threat
Emergency management consulted
- 3
Joel Klatt
Kicking dirt on the SEC
- 4Hot
Herbstreit almost left CGD
Saban, McAfee helped stop the move
- 5
Booger McFarland
Taking issue with Steve Sarkisian
Get the On3 Top 10 to your inbox every morning
By clicking "Subscribe to Newsletter", I agree to On3's Privacy Notice, Terms, and use of my personal information described therein.
“A big thing for me is regional sites,” he added. “We thought we would be one of the highest two seeds in the country, and I don’t know where they necessarily had us, but we got sent to play the hottest team in the country that was a national seed.
“Auburn was pretty dang good all year long, but they were not seeded as high as Clemson in the tournament. I believe that should be a big factor.”
Up Next: Tennessee vs. Southern Miss, Friday, 3 p.m. ET, ESPNU
Tennessee, playing in the Super Regional round for the fifth time in program history and for the third time as many years, beat Charlotte 9-2 on Sunday to win the Clemson Regional. The Vols beat Clemson 6-5 Saturday night in 14 innings, after beating Charlotte 8-1 on Friday to advance in the winners bracket.
Southern Miss beat Penn, the No. 4 seed in the Auburn Regional, 11-7 on Monday afternoon after trailing 5-1 early in the game. USM beat Penn 11-2 late Sunday night. The Golden Eagles beat Samford 9-4 on Sunday and beat Auburn 7-2 on Saturday.
The other seven Super Regional hosts are No. 1 Wake Forest (vs. No. 16 Alabama), No. 2 Florida (vs. No. 15 South Carolina), No. 5 LSU (vs. No. 12 Kentucky), No. 7 Virginia (vs. Duke), No. 8 Stanford (vs. Texas), TCU (vs. No. 14 Indiana State) and Oregon (vs. Oral Roberts).
