Tennessee baseball players celebrate with pitcher Chase Burns (23) after he retired Southern Mississippi, in the seventh inning during an NCAA college baseball tournament super regional at Pete Taylor Park in Hattiesburg, Miss., on Monday, June 12, 2023. Tennessee won 5-0 and advances to the College World Series. (Hannah Ruhoff/The Sun Herald via AP)

Tennessee Heads to Sixth College World Series in Program History

Daniel Haviv June 15, 2023 Baseball, College Baseball, NCAA, NCAA Tournament, SEC 852 Views

The Tennessee Volunteers baseball team is heading to their sixth College World Series in program history. Tennessee lost their only game in the SEC tournament to Texas A&M. They went on to sweep their Regional and defeat Southern Mississippi in the Super-Regional. Now, the Volunteers will face LSU for their first game at Omaha. Their side of the bracket also includes Stanford and the top-seeded Wake Forest.

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Tennessee infielder Maui Ahuna (2) throws to first after tagging out Southern Mississippi’s Nick Monistere, left, in the sixth inning of an NCAA college baseball tournament super regional game, Sunday, June 11, 2023, in Hattiesburg, Miss. The game was a continuation of Saturday’s play which was suspended due to weather concerns. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)

Tennessee’s Tough Super-Regional Matchup

The Volunteers had their hands full in the Super-Regional round of the NCAA Tournament. They faced a great Southern Miss team that took the first game of the series. Tennessee was able to bounce back and win the next two games comfortably. This pressure of nearly being eliminated was just what this team needed as they head into a field of great baseball teams in the CWS.

Southern Miss was not nearly as talented as the teams that Tennessee will have to face in their upcoming bracket. Players all throughout the lineup are going to have to step up.

Preview For LSU Game

The LSU matchup is a big-time SEC matchup. The pitching for both squads will be the X-factor in who wins Saturday’s game. LSU has Dylan Crews and Paul Skenes, who are both finalists for the Golden Spikes Award. This makes them so dynamic and tough to game plan for. In addition, the Tigers beat the Volunteers 2-1 in their only series this season.

Vince Fererra, the host of the Sports Animal in Knoxville, joined Steve Russell on SportScene to discuss Tennessee baseball. Fererra went in-depth on the Volunteers’ pitching for the upcoming weekend.

Tennessee Hopes To Make Up For Last Season

In the 2022 season, Tennessee was on top of the college baseball world heading into the NCAA tournament. They finished with a 57-9 record and were the favorites to win it all. However, they ran into Notre Dame in their super-regional matchup and were eliminated.

The swagger and confidence were apparent in that Volunteer team. Nonetheless, the 2023 team is locked in. They are not focusing on anything but winning. Fererra talked about how this year’s team is much different in the way they approach competing with one another.

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About Daniel Haviv

Hello, my name is Daniel Haviv and I'm a junior sports journalism student at the University of Florida. As a sports writer, I have published content on a multitude of different sports across all levels. Additionally, I was a beat reporter for the Gators Men's Basketball team for the 2022-2023 season. Game-day previews and post-game articles are featured.

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