The Tennessee Volunteers will play their first game in the Clemson Regional on Friday night at 6:00 p.m. ET in Clemson, South Carolina.
The two-seed Vols will be taking on the three-seed Charlotte 49ers in what is expected to be an entertaining nightcap to close down the first day of the Clemson Regional.
One-seed Clemson, on the other hand, is currently in the middle of a game against four-seed Lipscomb at the time of this publication on Friday afternoon at 1:30 p.m. ET.
Tennessee reached the postseason thanks to a 38-19 overall record with a 16-14 run in SEC play. After starting out 5-10 over the course of their first 15 SEC games, the Vols finished 11-5 in the conference including a loss to Texas A&M in the first round of the SEC Tournament. Tennessee took big series against postseason teams like Vanderbilt, Kentucky, and South Carolina.
More from RTI: Tennessee vs. Charlotte: How To Watch, Projected Pitching Matchups, Players To Know
Here’s a look at how the RTI Staff sees the Clemson Regional shaking out this weekend:
Ryan Schumpert
While Tennessee baseball struggled through much of the regular season I wrote and said on the RTI Press Pass Podcast frequently that this team has the talent to make a deep run— they just have to make the tournament and see what happens. And after a strong second half of SEC play that’s exactly what Tennessee did, even flirting with earning a top-16 seed and hosting in the process. Now it’s NCAA Tournament time and a chance for Tennessee to erase a mostly disappointing regular season with a memorable postseason.
But that won’t be easy at all. Clemson is the host team and enters the NCAA Tournament playing as well as any team in the country. The Tigers are winners of 16 straight and 26 of their last 29. Charlotte isn’t a particularly dangerous three-seed but they’re plenty capable of beating Tennessee in game one Friday night and making the Vols’ path to the Super Regional narrow and treacherous.
So what are the keys for Tennessee to leave the South Carolina Upstate victorious? The best way to win the double-elimination tournament is to win the single-elimination tournament. That means handling Charlotte Friday before beating Clemson Saturday. What’s the key to that? Chase Dollander shoving against the Tigers’ deep lineup. That’s my first key for Tennessee. The second? Avoiding poor offensive performances where getting a baserunner feels like pulling teeth. Even in the second half of the season Tennessee has been susceptible to laying an egg offensively. Doing that this weekend will make leaving Clemson victorious an even harder challenge.
This truly feels like a two-team race between Clemson and Tennessee and I’m giving Clemson the slight nod to get it done. Neither result would surprise me and I wouldn’t even make Clemson large favorites. But the Tigers are playing fantastic baseball and I have questions about Tennessee achieving either of my two keys. But that’s why they play the games and baseball’s unpredictability is one of the things that makes it a beautiful sport.
Regional Prediction: Clemson
Jack Foster
There’s no denying Clemson is a dangerous, dangerous team that is playing its best baseball at the right time. There’s also no denying that, while the NCAA Tournament may be unpredictable, Tennessee baseball has been predictable on the road.
The Vols were 4-12 on the road in the regular season, but two of their wins came in the final series of the season against South Carolina. And if it weren’t for a poor decision from Tony Vitello to pull Chase Dollander, Tennessee could’ve won all three.
So did that series give me any more confidence in Tennessee on the road? Maybe a little bit. But not much, as they mustered just one baserunner in a 3-0 loss to Texas A&M in the opening round of the SEC Tournament. Anytime the 2023 Tennessee Baseball Volunteers are away from Lindsey Nelson Stadium, they struggle more times than not.
The good news for Tennessee is that they far and away have the best pitching staff of any team in the NCAA Regional. If they can go 2-0 on Friday and Saturday–watch out–because they won’t be hurting for arms. But going 2-0 means beating Clemson on Saturday night. If Caden Grice is on the mound for the Tigers, their own Shohei Ohtani who happens to be a lefty (bad news for Tennessee), I cannot confidently predict the Vols will do enough offensively to win.
And if the Vols lose Saturday night, they’ll have to beat Clemson on Sunday night and Monday morning to reach the supers.
Tennessee beats Charlotte on Friday, loses to Clemson on Saturday, wins the Sunday morning game, but falls to Clemson again as the Tigers win the regional.
Regional Prediction: Clemson
Ric Butler
Saving the best for last! Well, that’s the spin zone I’m giving myself for being the last batter in the box to write these predictions. Anyways, let’s have some fun with it. I’m going to start out by saying that – you know what, let’s just get it out there and then work backward. I want to pick Clemson but I’m going to end up picking Tennessee.
Ryan, Jack, and I did quick midweek predictions for the Regional on Wednesday, I believe. All three of us picked Clemson to win. While the other two are better at sticking to their guns, I’m going to flip-flop. I still think that Clemson has the best chance to come out of the Regional. Why? Because they’re a good team, that’s why. Clemson is arguably the hottest team in college baseball but you already knew that.
Ryan and Jack both gave a lot of great stats and player insights in their predictions above, and I think they’re spot on. I’m going to add one more branch to this tree being built, and maybe the biggest X-factor why Tennessee could come out of this Region.
There’s a meme, or a saying with the youth these days, “the vibes are immaculate.” For those unaware of the lingo, it means that things are good in the immediate space around you. Ever since being booted from the first round of the SEC Tournament, Tennessee has had ample time to relax, rest, and recover. In some ways, the players even had a chance to turn their brains off from the constant week-to-week grind of the season for a few days. Jared Dickey spoke to the media on Tuesday and said that rest has been extremely beneficial for the team’s mindset heading into the weekend. Tony Vitello agreed from his perspective.
We all know that this Tennessee team has talent but isn’t always able to put together every phase of the game. I’m not saying that Tennessee is a better team than Clemson. Again, my prediction all week has been Clemson. The Tigers should have the best chance/odds to win the weekend. But I do believe that a relaxed, rested Tennessee team can be dangerous, despite being on the road where they’ve struggled so very much. It’s hard to pick Tennessee because everything from the season tells you to pick the hot team as opposed to the team that could barely win away from their home stadium.
As Ron Washington says, though, “that’s how baseball goes.” And I think there’s a chance that this is the way baseball will go this weekend. So let’s have some fun, close our eyes, and lock it in because changing our (my) mind again. Because, honestly, the more I think about it…
Regional Prediction: Tennessee
