Saturday will mark the one-week anniversary of Tennessee’s baseball season coming to a close with a 5-4 loss to VCU in an elimination game at the Chapel Hill Regional of the NCAA tournament.
It’s been an active few days, as 13 Volunteers players have entered or plan to enter the NCAA transfer portal.
The latest departures Friday were not insignificant, as sophomore shortstop Manny Marin and freshman pitcher Taylor Tracey will be exiting. Marin played in 55 of Tennessee’s 60 games this year, starting 52 of them, while Tracey appeared in 15 contests and made five starts, with most of those occurring in midweek games.
Marin, a 6-foot-1, 184-pounder from Hialeah, Florida, had 57 hits in his 55 games this season, finishing with a .291 average, nine home runs and 43 RBIs. He turned 21 in late April, so he is eligible for the MLB draft should he choose that route.
The 6-6, 205-pound Tracey hails from Austin, Texas, and posted a 1-0 record and a 3.26 earned run average. His ERA would have been notably better had it not been for a weekend start against his hometown Longhorns on May 10 inside Lindsey Nelson Stadium, when he failed to complete the first inning before allowing four runs on two hits and three walks in an eventual 13-6 loss.