BSB PREVIEW: No. 1 Vols Begin SEC Tournament Run on Wednesday in Hoover
Courtesy / UT Athletics

BSB PREVIEW: No. 1 Vols Begin SEC Tournament Run on Wednesday in Hoover

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BaseballMay 21, 2024

HOOVER, Ala. – No. 1/1 Tennessee begins postseason play Wednesday evening at the SEC Tournament in Hoover, Alabama, where it will take on the winner of Tuesday’s contest between No. 8 seed Vanderbilt and No. 9 seed Florida.

MORE INFO

GAME & BROADCAST INFO

#1/1 TENNESSEE (46-10 | 22-8 SEC)

 Roster Schedule Stats Notes Tournament Bracket Tickets Tournament Central Follow @UTGameday UT Athletics App UT Baseball RecordBookBuyTennessee Gear Vitello Pre-Tournament Presser

The Volunteers enter the tournament as the No. 1 seed after clinching a share of the SEC regular season and eastern division titles following a series sweep over South Carolina last weekend.

TOURNAMENT INFO

The official 2024 SEC Tournament bracket and other information, including tickets and gameday information can be found at the tournament central page by clicking HERE.

BROADCAST INFO

Every game of the 2024 SEC Tournament will be televised on the SEC Network while Sunday’s championship game will air on ESPN2. On the call for Tennessee’s tournament opener on Wednesday will be Tom Hart (PxP) and Kyle Peterson (analyst).

Hart and Peterson will call the second session games on Thursday, as well, while the duo of Dave Neal (PxP) and VFL Chris Burke (analyst) will call the first session games. Starting on Friday, Kris Budden will also join the broadcast crews as a field reporter for the remainder of the games.

Hart, Burke, Peterson and Budden will all be on the broadcast for both semifinal games on Saturday as well as Sunday’s championship game.

Fans can also listen to the Voice of Tennessee Baseball John Wilkerson call all of the action on the Vol Network (FM 99.1/AM 990) as well as UTSports.com and the Tennessee Athletics App.

VOLS SEC TOURNAMENT HISTORY

Tournament Appearances: 19
Overall Record: 32-28
in Hoover: 11-17
Other Sites: 21-11
Last 10 Games: 7-3
Last Appearance: 2023 (0-1)
Tournament Titles: 4 (1993, 1994, 1995, 2022)

Tennessee is making its fifth straight appearance at the SEC Tournament and is the No. 1 seed for just the second time since the tournament moved to its current 12-team format in 2013. The last time the Vols enter as the top seed, they went a perfect 4-0 to win their fourth SEC Tournament title in 2022.

NOTABLE

Success In Hoover Under Vitello
Since the arrival of Tony Vitello as head coach in 2018, Tennessee has seen a significant uptick in success at the SEC Tournament, posting a 7-4 overall record at the event with two title game appearances and one tournament championship (2022). Prior to Vitello, the Vols qualified for the tournament just three times in its current format (2014, 2015, 2016) and went 0-3 in those appearances.

Vols Rack Up SEC Honors
The 2024 SEC regular season champion Vols were well-represented in the league’s postseason honors, which were announced on Monday. Tennessee had four players earn first or second team All-SEC honors, including a pair of first-team selections, both of which were the second most of any team in the league.

Christian Moore and Dylan Dreiling were tabbed as first-team picks after finishing as two of the league’s top run-producers this season while Blake Burke and Kavares Tears were named second-team selections on top of earning SEC All-Defensive team acclaim, as well.

Drew Beam became the fourth Vol to win SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year and the third player to do so during Vitello’s tenure, joining Nico Mascia (2018) and Garrett Stallings (2019).

Dean Curley rounded out the group, becoming the fifth UT player in the Vitello era to be named to the SEC All-Freshman team. More info HERE.

Feeling Golden
Also announced on Monday was the 25-man semifinalist list for the 2024 Golden Spikes Award, which included a pair of Volunteers in Moore and Burke. UT was one of five schools that had two players make the list for college baseball’s most prestigious award, which is presented annually to the top amateur baseball player in the country.

Moore and Burke, who rank first and second in UT program history in career home runs with 54 and 46, respectively, are the fifth and sixth Vols to ever earn semifinalist status for the Golden Spikes Award. More info HERE.

UP NEXT

Following the SEC Tournament this week, the Vols – who will likely be a top-eight national seed – will return home to host an NCAA Regional for the third time in the last four years. The 16 host sites will be announced on Sunday night via Twitter/X and the NCAA Selection Show will air on Monday, May 27 at noon ET on ESPN2.

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