Tennessee baseball is headed to Clemson for the opening weekend of the NCAA Tournament. But before the Vols face the regional hosts Tigers they have to knock off Charlotte in their NCAA Tournament opener.
Charlotte is in the NCAA Tournament after winning the Conference USA Tournament last week. The 49ers were the six-seed in the event and lost their first game before winning xx straight games including over Dallas Baptist.
Here’s everything to know about Tennessee baseball’s NCAA Tournament opener against Charlotte.
More From RTI: Trio Of Tennessee Pitchers Enter The Transfer Portal
Game Time — No. 2 Tennessee (38-19, 16-14 SEC) vs. No. 3 Charlotte (34-26, 17-12 CUSA)
6 p.m. ET Friday night
How To Watch
TV: ESPNU. WatchESPN Stream
What Tony Vitello Said About Charlotte
On where he’s seen Charlotte infielder Austin Knight improve since transferring away from Tennessee
“When we went over there a couple of years ago during a midweek, he made some plays at third base. He did that here though. He was capable of being a good defender anywhere on the infield. We used him at first base and came in naturally as a shortstop. He was naturally in that mix of Trey [Lipscomb] and Jorel [Ortega] – his buddy Max Ferguson – who could really play anywhere. It’s not like he hasn’t improved in those areas, but he’s always had those capabilities of playing anywhere on the field. He pinch ran for us a couple of times, so athletic enough to be a good base runner. And then hitting, everybody evolves each year. You tinker a little bit with stance and stuff like that. He is an aggressive hitter and a guy who wants to hit. We have seen that in his time here and then that one occasion we drove over there and played on a Tuesday. Since, you started to break down the video that I’m sure those guys have checked out. That aggression stays there. For him and everyone else, it’s about getting older and getting more mature. That’s kind of what our game has become. I don’t want to say old man’s game because we are talking about 22 and 23-year-olds. But shorten draft, COVID, transfer portal – it’s surely made it to where you maybe don’t have to be older in age, but you better have a level of maturity to you and better be as physical of a guy like Luc Lipcius, who is an old man now. Old, retired and married. Probably making money too.”
On Knoxville native and Charlotte star Cam Fisher, plans to slow him down
Charlotte
Cam Fisher — .352 BA, .509 OBP, 1.340 OPS, 30 HR, 42 XBH, 64 RBI
Brandon Stahlman — .293 BA, .377 OBP, .860 OPS, 8 HR, 23 XBH, 45 RBI
Jack Dragum — .286 BA, .365 OBP, .836 OPS, 10 HR, 23 XBH, 48 RBI
Jake Cunningham — .281 BA, .380 OBP, .936 OPS, 11 HR, 25 XBH, 40 RBI
Austin Knight — .242 BA, .306 OBP, .768 OPS, 11 HR, 19 XBH, 38 RBI
