It wasn’t long ago when Tennessee was relegated to an underdog role in the college baseball world.
The Volunteers went 13 seasons from 2006-18 without reaching the NCAA tournament, when they were an eye-popping 110 games under .500 in Southeastern Conference contests. Simply qualifying for the league tournament became a chief goal, which Tennessee attained on just four occasions during those dark ages.
Fast-forward to present day, and Tennessee has never been a bigger Goliath.
The Vols have won two of the past three SEC tournament championships and are seeded first overall in the NCAA tournament for the second time in three years. On Friday afternoon, they will take on the unheralded Evansville Purple Aces in the opening game of a best-of-three super regional inside Lindsey Nelson Stadium with a trip to the College World Series at stake.
“They’re an older team that can certainly swing the bat, and those two things kind of go hand in hand,” Tennessee coach Tony Vitello said Wednesday afternoon in a news conference. “They have a lot of pieces there that are similar to the good teams in our league. They’re a little like Kentucky with the well-balanced offense, and they play with a really fun style.