College World Series Preview: Tennessee hopes for extended stay in Omaha
Tennessee baseball is back in Omaha for the third time in four years and seventh time in program history.
The Vols (55-12) are the No. 1 overall seed and kickoff their College World Series journey on Friday at 7 p.m. eastern time against Florida State (47-15). North Carolina (47-14) and Virginia (46-15) begin the tournament earlier in the day at 2 p.m. eastern time. The winners of the two ballgames meet on Sunday evening and the losers square off in elimination on Sunday beforehand.
The eight-team CWS field is divided into two four-team brackets who compete in a regional play setup of double-elimination. The one key difference this go-around is off days situated on Saturday and Monday. The winner of each bracket advances on to the CWS Finals, which is the best of a three-game series beginning on Saturday, June 22.
Tennessee snapped a six-game losing-streak in Omaha last year with a 6-3 win over Stanford. The Vols haven’t won two games in the CWS since the 2001 run and haven’t competed in the Finals series since 1951, which was their first ever appearance.
With Kentucky, NC state, Texas A&M and Florida battling it out in bracket two, we’ll preview that side if necessary if the Vols make it to the Finals round. For now, here’s a look at each of the four teams in Bracket 1 that Tennessee could see in Omaha.
Florida State (47-15)
The Seminoles finished third behind Clemson and NC State in the Atlantic Division of the ACC with a 17-12 league record. They advanced all the way to the ACC Tournament title game but were beat by Duke. Florida State, however, is a perfect 5-0 in postseason games since, defeating Stetson (7-2) and UCF twice (5-2, 12-4) to sweep the Tallahassee Regional and took two over UConn (24-4, 10-8) in super regional play to punch their ticket to Omaha for the 27th time in program history.
Head coach Link Jarrett is in his second season at the helm and got the job ahead of the 2023 year following a College World Series appearance with Notre Dame in 2022 that saw the Irish win a decisive game three in Knoxville over the Vols in super regional play.
Sophomore lefty ace Jamie Arnold (11-3, 2.77 ERA) has been phenomenal this season and has pitched on several different days of the weekend and even during the week for some big-time midweek matchups. He’s started in 17 of his 18 appearances on the year and has logged team-highs of 100.2 innings pitched and 155 strikeouts while walking just 22. Opponents are hitting .216 against him, but he has surrendered 21 doubles to go along with six homers in 2024. Arnold has pitched on Saturdays in postseason play to this point.
Fellow lefty, Carson Dorsey (7-4, 4.67 ERA) has started both openers in the two postseason rounds thus far and he’s pitched really well, allowing only two earned runs over 14 innings against Stetson and UConn. The former JUCO product has started 10 games while making 22 appearances on the season, logging 69.1 innings with 81 strikeouts to 35 walks. He’s allowed 14 doubles, 10 home runs and opponents are hitting .275 against him on the year.
Lefty Brennan Oxford and righty Joe Charles have both appeared a team-high 29 times out of the bullpen. Oxford has a 2.94 ERA over 52.0 innings while leading the team with six saves and Charles has a 6.52 ERA in 29.0 innings. Lefty Connor Hults (2-1, 4.45 ERA) is another often used bullen arm with 25 appearances and four saves. Connor Whittaker (4.75 ERA, 55.0 IP) has made nine starts and Andrew Armstrong (6.98 ERA, 38.2 IP) has started eight times.
Overall, Florida State ranks 43rd nationally with an ERA of 4.86.
On the offensive end, third baseman Cam Smith is a force hitting second, boasting a .402 batting average with 16 home runs, 56 runs batted in, 79 runs scored and 20 doubles. Right fielder and three-hole hitter James Tibbs leads the team with 28 homers and 94 RBI (tied second nationally) while boasting a .374 clip at the plate. Designated hitter and cleanup thumper Marco Dinges has registered a .321 average to date with 15 homers and 66 RBI.
Left fielder Jaime Ferrer hits fifth and tallies a .319 clip at the dish with 19 homers and 58 RBI while first baseman Daniel Cantu (.311) and centerfielder and leadoff man Max Williams (.301, 13 HR, 43 RBI) make it six Seminoles hitting over .300 on the season. Second baseman Drew Faurot (10 SB) and outfielder Jordan Williams (15 SB) have combined to be caught stealing just twice this season.
The order is ridiculous. Florida State is ranked ninth in the nation with a team batting average of .316, seventh with 123 home runs and sixth with 559 runs scored.
North Carolina (47-14)
The Tar Heels finished the regular season with the best record in the ACC at 22-8, but bowed out in the second game of the conference tournament following a 9-5 loss in 12 innings to Wake Forest. North Carolina needed the Sunday game to put away LSU, but advanced on to the Chapel Hill Super Regional and took two games over West Virginia to punch its ticket to the College World Series.
Making their 12th appearance in the College World Series, the Tar Heels will play Virginia at 2 pm eastern time on Friday.
UNC has the 15th-best ERA in the country at 4.22 and the 29th-best WHIP at 1.40 while sporting a solid 1-2 punch at the top of the rotation.
Right-handed true freshman Jason Decaro has made every start of the season (17) while posting a 6-1 record with a 3.89 ERA. The newcomer has recorded a team-high 85.2 innings with 72 strikeouts and 40 walks while opponents are hitting .219 against him. Junior lefty Shea Sprague owns a 3-1 record and 4.00 ERA over 16 appearances with four starts. The southpaw has struck out 64 batters and walked only 16 over 74.1 inning on the bump.
Righty Aidan Haugh (4-2, 4.53 ERA) and lefty Folger Boaz (3-1, 5.77 ERA) have combined for 16 starts while southpaw Dalton Pence (4-1, 2.04 ERA) leads the team with eight saves and 34 appearances. Fellow lefty Kyle Percival (4-0, 2.42 ERA) has logged 22 appearances out of the bullpen while righty Matthew Matthijs (12-4, 3.65 ERA) has made 34 appearances on the year, too.
The offense is solid, registering a .304 team batting average with 113 home runs and 89 stolen bases. Two players have launched 20+ home runs while five are in double digits for the category. Six players are hitting over .300 in the everyday lineup and no regular contributor is hitting below .280 for the season.
First baseman and the third hitter in the order, Parks Harber, leads the squad with a .341 average while his 20 home runs and 63 RBI rank second on the team. Left fielder and No. 2 hitter, Casey Cook, tallies a .339 clip with 18 home runs and a team-best 76 RBI. Anthony Donofrio, who plays every day right field and hits cleanup, boasts an average of .338 with seven home runs and 52 RBI and 19 stolen based through 57 starts.
Third baseman Gavin Gallaher (.337, 8 HR, 38 RBI) hits in the heart of the order while MLB prospect centerfielder Vance Honeycutt is hitting .314 with a team-high 26 home runs, 85 runs scored and 28 stolen bases, going along with 65 RBI. Designated hitter Alberto Osuna and catcher Luke Stevenson have each belted 14 home runs on the year.
Virginia (46-15)
Virginia finished the regular season second in the Coastal Division of the ACC with a league record of 18-12 and it bowed out in the second game of the ACC Tournament, 12-7 to Florida State. The Cavaliers are a perfect 5-0 in postseason play, sweeping both the Charlotteville Regional, with wins over Penn and Mississippi State twice, and the Charlottesville Super Regional with a pair of victories over Kansas State.
Pitching wise, Virginia totals a team ERA of 5.39 and doesn’t have true second fiddle for ace Evan Blanco. The sophomore lefty has tallied 17 starts on the year with an 8-3 record and 3.69 ERA. He’s struck out 95 batters, walked 25 and opponents are hitting .261 against him.
Righty Jay Woolfolk (4-1, 5.95 ERA) started game two of super regionals last weekend. Fellow righty Joe Savino (3-2, 3.18 ERA) made a start in regional play. Owen Coady (1-1, 5.94 ERA) and Cullen McKay (2-1, 8.45 ERA) have each logged seven starts on the year. Right-handed reliever Aidan Teel (2-2, 7.88 ERA) leads the team with six saves.
As is the case with every team in Tennessee’s side of the bracket, Virginia can hit. In fact, the Cavaliers are second in the country with a .336 batting average, fourth in runs with 576 and 11th in home runs with 116.
Second baseman Henry Godbout is tied for the team-lead with a .370 batting average and has slugged nine homers with 46 runs driven in. He’s only stuck out an incredible 19 times over 165 at-bats with 27 walks in the process. Centerfielder Bobby Whalen hits at a .370 clip as well with two home runs and 35 RBI over 165 at-bats.
Left fielder Harrison Didawick hits at a respectable .297 clip but leads the team with 23 home runs and is tied with 68 RBI. First baseman and cleanup hitter Henry Ford has also driven in 68 runs along with 17 homers and a .339 batting average. Catcher Jacob Ference and right fielder Casey Saucke both have tallied double-digit home runs and are hitting .354 and .343, respectively.
In all, seven of the eight everyday players in the lineup boast a batting average of at least .300 while four players have powered for 10+ home runs.
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