Tennessee baseball will play in its seventh straight NCAA Tournament.
The No. 25 Vols (38-20) are a No. 2 seed and will play in the Chapel Hill Regional, hosted by No. 1 seed North Carolina (45-11-1), the No. 5 overall seed. Tennessee will open against No. 3 seed East Carolina (36-22-1) on May 29 (noon ET, ESPNU) followed by No. 4 North Carolina vs. No. 4 seed VCU (37-23).
The Chapel Hill Regional is matched up with the College Station Regional, hosted by No. 12 overall seed Texas A&M (39-14). The No. 2 seed in that regional is Southern Cal (43-15). The winners of the Chapel Hill and College Station regionals will play in a super regional for a spot in the College World Series.
Regional tournaments will be played May 29-June 1 and the best-of-three super regional will be either June 5-7 or June 6-8. The College World Series at Charles Schwab Field in Omaha, Nebraska, starts June 12 and the finals are slated for June 20-22.
This is Tennessee’s first season under coach Josh Elander, who took over for Tony Vitello in October after Vitello left to become the manager of the San Francisco Giants. Elander was a familiar face within the program, serving as an assistant on Tennessee’s staff through all eight years of Vitello’s tenure.
Elander’s 38 wins are the most for a first-year head coach in Tennessee history, surpassing the previous record of 29. An appearance in the regional final would give Tennessee its seventh straight full season with at least 40 wins.
Deep NCAA Tournament runs became routine for the Vols under Vitello. They advanced to super regionals in each of the past five seasons and made the College World Series in 2021, 2023 and 2024, winning the first national championship in program history in 2024.
Last season, Tennessee won the Knoxville Regional before being swept by Arkansas in the Fayetteville Super Regional.
This is just the second time in the last six seasons Tennessee isn’t hosting a regional, the last coming in 2023 when the Vols won the Clemson Regional and then advanced to the College World Series by winning the Hattiesburg Super Regional.
NCAA Chapel Hill Regional schedule
All times ET
Friday
- Game 1: Tennessee vs. East Carolina, noon, ESPNU
- Game 2: North Carolina vs. VCU, 5 p.m., ESPN+
Saturday
- Game 3: Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser, noon, TBD
- Game 4: Game 1 winner vs. Game 2, 5 p.m., TBD
Sunday
- Game 5: Game 4 loser vs. Game 3 winner, noon, TBD
- Game 6: Game 4 winner vs. Game 5 winner, 5 p.m., TBD
Monday (if necessary)
- Game 7: Game 6 winner vs. Game 6 loser, TBD
Emmett Siegel covers Tennessee baseball for Knox News. Email: [email protected]; X: @EmmettSiegel_
