Tennessee baseball’s super regional opponent is set. The top-seeded Vols will face 16-seed Evansville in a three-game series at Lindsey Nelson Stadium next weekend in Knoxville with the winner advancing to the College World Series in Omaha.
Evansville is the Cinderella story of the NCAA Tournament so far. The Purple Aces were the four-seed in the Greenville Regional but knocked off East Carolina 6-5 on Monday afternoon to advance to the Knoxville Super Regional.
The Purple Aces defeated East Carolina in its NCAA Tournament opener before knocking off VCU to advance to the regional final. East Carolina defeated Evansville 19-6 on Sunday night to force game seven of the Greenville Regional. But Evansville prevailed to extend its season by at least one more week.
Evansville enters the Knoxville Super Regional with a 37-24 (17-10 MVC) record. They made it to the NCAA Tournament by upsetting NCAA Tournament team Indiana State in the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament Championship game.
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The Vols are back in the super regionals for the fourth straight season after sweeping through the Knoxville Regional last weekend. Tennessee trailed at the end of only two innings over the course of the weekend, outscoring Northern Kentucky, Indiana and Southern Miss 33-12 in three games.
Tennessee is back in the super regionals for the fourth straight season. The Vols are 12-0 in regional games over the last four seasons but all of the past three regionals included at least one extremely tough game or near loss.
Tony Vitello’s program is looking to return to the College World Series for the third time in four seasons. Tennessee swept LSU in two games in 2021, lost against Notre Dame in three games in 2022 and defeated Southern Miss in three games in 2023.
The Knoxville Super Regional will either run from Friday to Sunday or from Saturday to Monday. The NCAA will announce the full super regional schedule later on Monday night.
