Tag: tennessee baseball

Alabama baseball defeats No. 5 Tennessee on Saturday night to even the series

Alabama baseball ends Tennessee’s 17-game winning streak!

After dropping game one of the three-game series on Friday night, Rob Vaughn and No. 14 Alabama defeated No. 5 Tennessee on Saturday night 6-3 to even the series at one game a piece.

Alabama jumped out front early with one run in the first, two in the second, and three in the third to build a six-run advantage after three full innings. With the hot start at the plate and solid pitching throughout, the Tide was able to end the Vols’ 17-game winning streak.

Following the win, head coach Rob Vaughn had the following to say:

“It was a good night for us tonight, but it’s going to be a quick turnaround tomorrow. We have to come out and get ready for a big punch from a talented and emotional group in that other dugout and (Tennessee) is going to come out swinging early. We’ll have to weather the storm and swing back, and it’s going to be a heck of a game tomorrow.”

The rubber match of the series will be played on Sunday at 1 p.m. CT on the SEC Network.

Roll Tide Wire will continue to follow the Alabama baseball team as the season progresses.

Contact/Follow us @RollTideWire on X (Twitter), and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Alabama news, notes, and opinion. You can also follow Stacey Blackwood on X (Twitter) @Blackwood89.

SEC Baseball Power Rankings after three weeks of non-conference play

SEC Baseball Power Rankings for the 2024 season with teams still finding their identities.

The college baseball season is underway and teams are already beginning to find their identities. When it comes to identifying the contenders in the SEC, you almost always have your usual suspects — Florida, Arkansas, Tennessee, Vanderbilt, LSU, and Texas A&M.

Other programs that have started to find their identities early on in the season are Kentucky, Auburn, Georgia, South Carolina, and Alabama.

Then, you have other programs like Missouri, Ole Miss, and Mississippi State that have each struggled to find their footing this season.

Nonetheless, the SEC is unpredictable and consistently changing. Therefore, it is way too early to pencil teams in or out of any kind of postseason play.

Roll Tide Wire provides its first SEC baseball power rankings of the 2024 season.

Projecting the most impactful transfer for each SEC baseball program for the 2024 season

The SEC has no shortage of talent on the baseball diamond. See the most impactful transfer for every SEC team in 2024.

The SEC has some of the best talent in the country when it comes to baseball. Each year, the conference provides some of the top players in the MLB draft. Not to mention, the SEC is typically well-represented in the College World Series.

Needless to say, it is always interesting to see which players burst onto the scene. Some of the best-of-the-best come from the southeast. It is a baseball hotbed for some of the nation’s top high school prospects and transfers.

Roll Tide Wire takes a look at 14 incoming transfers that have the potential to have a breakout season in 2024.

Bakich dishes on Amick’s decision to transfer to Tennessee

Clemson HC Erik Bakich briefly touched on Billy Amick’s decision to transfer to Tennessee when he spoke to the media on Thursday.

When news broke that Billy Amick was transferring from Clemson to Tennessee, it was immediately perceived as a shocking move by most.

The sophomore infielder had just finished an impressive season, winning the team’s offensive MVP award and earning All-ACC first-team honors. As a sophomore in 2021, he hit .413 with 37 runs, 17 doubles, two triples, 13 homers and 63 RBIs.

Speaking to the media on Thursday, Clemson baseball head coach Erik Bakich briefly touched on Amick’s decision.

“Billy’s a great hitter, and I think there’s probably a lot of things that went into it for him personally, so I don’t want to speak for him,” Bakich said. “I think for me, we didn’t want him to go, but, obviously, we wish him all the best. He’s an elite hitter, and he had an elite year, so I hope he continues to find that success.”

Shortly after his announcement Amick later revealed that the reason he wanted to leave Clemson was to be able to play third base, as opposed to designated hitter and first base, which is what Amick primarily played this past season.

Based on Amick’s comments, it sounds like Tenessee head coach Tony Vitello is going to give him the opportunity to make that position change.

“(Vitello) is going to let me be me,” Amick told Knox News. “That is really important to me and a lot of players. Nobody wants to be put in a cookie cutter of, ‘This is how you have to play ball and this is how your game should be.’ Being your own player is very important for anybody.”

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Tennessee coach Tony Vitello punished his players’ poor hitting by turning their dugout stools upside down

What a corny way to motivate your players.

With their season on the line, Tennessee needed a heroic performance during a College World Series elimination game on Tuesday. To beat juggernaut LSU, the Volunteers would need all hands on deck — great pitching and timely hitting at the plate.

They got neither. And the latter poor plate appearances in a 5-0 shutout loss were rather frustrating for Tennessee coach Tony Vitello.

Vitello expressed this frustration by trying to light a spark under his players in one of the most peculiar ways: He turned their dugout stools upside down, taking away the option to sit when not playing.

It, quite obviously, didn’t work.

There’s a certain point of diminishing returns.

For me, if my players weren’t hitting well, I’d probably just chalk it up to bad luck and a poor afternoon. It wasn’t our day or our season. You live, and you learn. But with the Volunteers up against the wall, I suppose Vitello thought he had to pull out all the stops — or, in this case, turn them over — in order to motivate his team.

Tennessee rallies against Stanford in Men’s College World Series to keep season alive

The Volunteers overcame an early 4-0 deficit to continue their run in Omaha.

Tennessee’s season appeared to be dead in the water in the top of the fourth inning of Monday’s elimination game against Stanford in Omaha.

Trailing 4-0 and facing an early Men’s College World Series exit, the Volunteers pulled likely first-round pick pitcher Chase Dollander. It’s been an inconsistent year for Dollander, and it was not his best start.

He allowed four runs with just two strikeouts, lasting only three innings with his team playing for its season. With the situation looking dire, Tennessee turned to sophomore reliever Chase Burns to try and stop the bleeding.

Burns did a lot more than that.

He finished the game, closing out the final six innings. He allowed just two hits with no runs or walks, retiring nine batters via strikeout.

His performance sparked the Tennessee bats, which chased Stanford’s Quinn Mathews from the game in the fifth, preventing him from repeating the 156-pitch, 16-strikeout complete game that kept the Cardinal alive in the super regional.

The Vols scored four runs in the fifth to tie the game, and they would take the lead in the seventh with two more. They never looked back en route to a 6-4 win to remain alive in the CWS.

Stanford is heading home, while Tennessee will have to battle for its postseason life yet again on Tuesday against the loser of Monday’s nightcap between No. 1 Wake Forest and No. 5 LSU.

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UGA football in top schools for dual-sport standout

In-state athlete BJ Gibson was previously committed to play baseball at Tennessee. Now he has reopened his recruitment.

The Georgia Bulldogs are among the top schools for in-state athlete BJ Gibson. Gibson decommitted from the Tennessee Volunteers baseball program on Jan. 23.

Gibson stars in football and baseball for Wilcox County High School in Rochelle, Georgia.

He is a four-star athlete. He is the No. 301 player in the country and the No. 26 athlete. Gibson is the No. 39 football recruit in Georgia.

The 6-foot, 170-pound recruit has great speed and acceleration. Gibson primarily plays wide receiver for Wilcox County. He shows good body control.

Gibson is a smooth athlete. He times the snap count to get fast releases off the line of scrimmage. He is a deep threat and does a lot of damage on screen plays.

Will Gibson pick football or baseball? He could play both sports in college. He is a highly rated baseball recruit. Gibson has gone on recent visits to Florida and Florida State.

BJ Gibson’s top schools are Georgia, Tennessee, Florida, FSU, Georgia Tech, Auburn, Stanford, Kentucky, USF, Northwestern, Georgia Southern, LSU and South Carolina.

Georgia offered the talented two-sport star in February 2022. Gibson named his top 13 schools via Twitter:

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Four Vols named to Golden Spikes Award preseason watch list

Four Vols named to the Golden Spikes Award preseason watch list.

USA Baseball released a 2023 Golden Spikes Award preseason watch list.

Chase Dollander, Chase Burns, Drew Beam and Maui Ahuna were recognized on the 55-man preseason watch list. The four selections sets a new program-record for Tennessee.

The Golden Spikes Award is presented annually to the nation’s top amateur baseball player. The Vols and LSU tied for the most selections with four each.

Dollander, Burns and Beam combined for 43 starts last season, posting a 26-3 record and 273 strikeouts.

Dollander was the 2022 SEC Pitcher of the Year and earned preseason first-team All-America honors. Beam was named the SEC Freshman of the Year last season.

Ahuna transferred to Tennessee after playing two seasons at Kansas. He was a first-team All-Big 12 selection last season and earned preseason second-team All-America honors from NCBWA.

The Vols open its 2023 season Feb. 17 against Arizona at 8 p.m. EST on MLB Network.

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Follow @VolsWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Tennessee news, notes, and opinions. You can also follow Zach McKinnell on Twitter @zachmckinnell 

UGA football offers 2024 Tennessee baseball commit

The Georgia Bulldogs have offered a scholarship to Baylor School star Amari Jefferson.

The Georgia Bulldogs have offered a scholarship to class of 2024 recruit Amari Jefferson. Georgia football is dipping into Tennessee to recruit Jefferson, who plays high school football for Baylor School in Chattanooga.

Jefferson has already committed to playing baseball for the Tennessee Volunteers. Could the multi-sport star play both football and baseball for Tennessee? The 6-foot-1, 190-pound athlete has football scholarship offers from Kentucky, Chattanooga, Virginia Tech, and more.

Jefferson has good speed and excellent hand-eye coordination.

Here’s a look at a 95 yard touchdown that Jefferson scored during his sophomore season:

Jefferson is currently an unranked football recruit on 247Sports. The talented athlete is considered a four-star football recruit on Rivals.

Amari Jefferson announced his scholarship offer from Will Muschamp and Georgia football via Twitter:

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Former Alabama Baseball third baseman transferring to SEC school

Former Alabama third baseman Zane Denton is transferring to Tennessee. Last season, he led the Crimson Tide in home runs.

Former Alabama third baseman Zane Denton announced that he will be transferring to Tennessee. He posted the news on his Instagram page. His caption read, “I’m coming home.”

Denton has been a staple at the hot corner for the Crimson Tide over the past few years. The native of Brentwood, Tennessee joined the baseball program as a part of the 2019 recruiting class. During his freshman season, he appeared in 13 games with 11 starts. He held a .220 batting average on the season.

His production increased in his sophomore season. He earned All-SEC Defensive Team honors for his stellar work at third. Denton started in all 58 games that he played during his sophomore season at the Capstone. He maintained a .308 batting average with 10 home runs and 40 runs batted in.

That didn’t keep him from having yet another stellar season as a junior. In 2022, he started 58 games yet again. This past season he led the Tide with 13 home runs and 48 runs batted in. His production was a key to the success that the baseball team had this past season. However, after the end of his junior campaign, he decided to enter the transfer portal.

Now, he will return home to play for Tony Vitello’s Volunteers. The Vols were projected by many to win the College World Series after an outlandish season in 2022. They would come up short of winning it all in a loss against Notre Dame. The expectations are high for next season’s team and Denton will likely play a huge role in Knoxville next season. Brad Bohannon will likely replace Denton with Tennessee Tech transfer Ed Johnson.

Roll Tide Wire will continue to follow Alabama baseball as the offseason continues.