Good stuff in
@NO SIR EEE's Baseball Forum
game thread. I swiped the following for our thread:
The Vols enter the tournament as the #1 national seed for the second time in program history with 2022 marking the only other instance. Just like 2022, Tennessee won both the SEC regular season championship and the SEC Tournament title.
NCAA KNOXVILLE REGIONAL SCHEDULE
Friday, May 31
Game 1 – [2] Southern Miss vs. [3] Indiana | 1 p.m. ET |
Watch (ESPN+) |
Live Stats
Game 2 – [1] Tennessee vs. [4] Northern Kentucky | 7 p.m. ET |
Watch (SEC Network) |
Listen (Vol Network) |
Live Stats
Saturday, June 1
Game 3 – Loser of Game 1 vs. Loser of Game 2 | Noon ET
Game 4 – Winner of Game 1 vs. Winner of Game 2 | 6 p.m. ET
Sunday, June 2
Game 5 – Winner of Game 3 vs. Loser of Game 4 | Noon ET
Game 6 – Winner of Game 5 vs. Winner of Game 4 | 6 p.m. ET
Monday, June 3
Game 7 (if necessary) – Winner of Game 6 vs. Loser of Game 6 | TBD
NCAA TOURNAMENT HISTORY
Prior Appearances: 13 (Most Recent: 2023)
Regional Record: 30-13 (.698)
Knoxville Regional Record: 20-5 (.800)
College World Series Appearances: 6 (1951, 1995, 2001, 2005, 2021, 2023)
This will be Tennessee's 14th appearance in the NCAA Tournament and mark the eighth time hosting a regional at Lindsey Nelson Stadium. The Vols have won all four of their regionals in Knoxville since the tournament switched to its current four-team format in 1999 and are unbeaten (9-0) in their last three home regionals. In those four regionals (2001, 2005, 2021, 2023), UT has posted a 12-1 overall record and has gone on to advance to the College World Series in three of those four seasons.
NEED TO KNOW
- The Vols are just the third program in Division I history to earn the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Baseball Tournament twice in a three-year span, joining Florida (2016 & 2018) and Florida State (2002 and 2003).
- Tennessee also joins a small group of programs that have earned the No. 1 national seed multiple times, becoming just the seventh to do so since the tournament switched to its current format in 1999, joining Florida, Florida State, Miami, Oregon State, Texas and UCLA.
- Tennessee is set to play in their fifth consecutive NCAA regional, matching the longest regional streak in program history (1993-1997). The Vols have also advanced to three straight NCAA super regionals, the longest such streak in program history.
- UT is the only SEC program and one of just four teams nationally (Stanford, Texas & Virginia) to have appeared in the College World Series in two of the last three seasons (2021 & 2023).
- Just as it did the last time it earned the No. 1 national seed in 2022, Tennessee is coming off capturing the SEC regular season and SEC Tournament crowns. The Vols shared the regular-season title with Kentucky after posting a 22-8 record in league play and went on to win their fifth tournament championship in program history by defeating LSU, 4-3, in last Sunday's championship game.
- Christian Mooreis having one of the greatest single seasons in program history and was named a first-team All-SEC selection and one of 25 semifinalist for the Golden Spikes Award. The junior second baseman won the Triple Crown with his stats in league play, leading the SEC with a .429 batting average, 20 home runs and 41 RBIs in conference play while also leading the league with 57 hits and 123 total bases. Moore finished second in slugging percentage (.925) and fifth in runs scored (37).
- Entering play this weekend, Moore ranks in the top-25 nationally in hits (5th – 95), home runs (5th – 28), slugging percentage (22nd – .789) and total bases (4th – 194).
- Tennessee has been the nation's most prolific home run hitting team since the start of the 2021 season, leading all NCAA Division I programs with 528 long balls during that span. In the previous decade before that (2010-2020), the Volunteers totaled just 376 home runs.
- UT has homered in 54 of its 61 games this season with 147 total round trippers, which leads the nation.
- The Vols 11 grand slams are tied for the third most in a single season in NCAA history (most in the BBCOR bat era) and the most ever by an SEC team. The NCAA single-season record is 14 by Arizona State in 2003 (68 games). Nine different players have hit a grand slam for the Vols this season.
- The Vols' bullpen has played a major role in the team's overall success this season, as the team's relievers have boasted a 35-5 record while tying the UT single-season mark for saves with 18. UT's bullpen has a combined ERA of 3.49 while racking up 336 strikeouts compared to just 102 walks in 289.0 innings of work.
- In the month of May, UT's bullpen has combined to post a 9-0 record with seven saves and a 2.40 ERA in 82.1 innings with 108 strikeouts and just 22 walks while holding opposing hitters to a .227 batting average.
- Tennessee is 149-24 when playing at Lindsey Nelson Stadium since the start of the 2020 season, including a 35-3 record at home this year with six series sweeps, marking the program's fourth consecutive season with 30 or more home victories.
- UT's 35 home victories this season are the most in the country entering play this weekend while their .921 winning percentage at home ranks fourth nationally.
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