Tennessee baseball lost an abundance of talent off its 2024 National Championship team and especially at the plate where the Vols lost five different players that hit 20-plus home runs last season.
But Tony Vitello and his staff went straight to work in the transfer portal, landing five commitments with Niagara first baseman Eric Rataczak eventually foregoing his final season of college eligibility to sign with the Miami Marlins. While Tennessee’s four player transfer class is small, it’s full of elite talent.
Baseball America released its top 10 transfers of the offseason last month and two incoming Tennessee players were on the list. Baseball America ranked Louisville middle infielder Gavin Kilen as its No. 3 transfer of the offseason and Ole Miss third baseman Andrew Fischer as its No. 6 transfer.
The SEC dominated the top 10 rankings like they do most of the sport with nine of the top 10 transfers landing in the nation’s top conference. LSU landed three players on the list while Auburn, Texas, Arkansas and Florida each landed one.
A rising junior, Kilen hit .330 with nine home runs, 35 extra-base hits and 41 RBIs last season at Louisville. The left-handed hitter flashed power last season at Louisville but also displayed incredibly impressive bat to ball skills, striking out in just 9% of his at-bats.
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Kilen was one of Tennessee baseball’s top targets in the transfer portal this offseason. He visited Knoxville for the super regional series against Evansville and took his time afterwards before eventually committing to Tony Vitello and his staff on the Fourth of July.
Fischer was one of the top sluggers in the transfer portal, hitting .285 with 20 home runs and 57 RBIs in his sophomore season and led the Rebels both in long balls and runs batted in.
Fischer added two triples and 10 doubles for a .643 slugging percentage in his sophomore season. He posted a 21% strikeout rate and a 14% walk rate in his lone year with the Rebels. A 6-foot-1, 205-pound third baseman, Fischer spent just one season at Ole Miss after playing his freshman season at Duke. In his debut collegiate season at Duke, Fischer hit .289 with 11 home runs, 13 doubles and 33 RBIs.
Tennessee also added pitchers Liam Doyle (Ole Miss) and Tanner Franklin (Kennesaw State) in the transfer portal including a pair of junior college arms and one of the top high school recruiting classes in the country as they look to avoid a National Championship hangover like teams in recent history.
