Tennessee baseball is headed back to the College World Series for the second straight season after defeating Evansville in three games during the Knoxville Super Regional over the weekend.
So what is awaiting Tennessee baseball as Tony Vitello’s squad returns to Omaha for a third time in four season?
The Vols will face Florida State in their College World Series opener after the Seminoles swept their super regional series against Connecticut in Tallahassee.
The NCAA has not set game date or game time for Tennessee’s College World Series opener against Florida State. It will either be next Friday, June 14 or Saturday, June 15. The opener will most likely be on Friday because every team on Tennessee’s side of the bracket is playing Friday through Sunday series this weekend while the other side of the bracket is playing Saturday through Monday this weekend.
First pitch times for the first two games on both Friday and Saturday are at 1 p.m. and 6 p.m. ET. The NCAA likely won’t announce the full schedule until all the super regional series conclude.
More From RTI: How Tennessee Baseball Got It Done In Its College World Series Clinching Win Over Evansville
The College World Series format is like the regional and super regionals stacked on top of one another. The eight teams are divided into two four-team sections where they play a double elimination tournament. The winners of both tournaments face off in a three-game series for the championship.
Who else will be on Tennessee’s side of the bracket? It looks like the ACC Invitational including the Tennessee Volunteers. At the time of publication, North Carolina swept West Virginia in its super regional series while Virginia swept Kansas State. As previously noted, Florida State took care of business by defeating UConn in both games this weekend in Tallahassee.
The Vols winning their opener against Florida State will be incredibly important to their hopes of making it to the College World Series final. Just like in a regional, it’s extremely hard to work your way out of the loser’s bracket if you drop your first game.
In Tennessee’s two trips to the College World Series under Tony Vitello, the Vols have lost their opener both times. They had the ill fortune of facing Virginia’s Andrew Abbott and LSU’s Paul Skenes on the mound— both who are already effective MLB starters.
Stay tuned to RockyTopInsider.com for updates on the College World Series pool and Tennessee’s game times.
