Tennessee baseball will begin the year ranked inside of the top ten

Tennessee baseball will begin the year ranked inside of the top ten, according to D1Baseball. The publication debuted their preseason top 25 on Tuesday morning, placing Tennessee at No. 9 to start the year.

The Volunteers are coming off of another appearance in the College World Series. Tony Vitello has this program rolling, even after several departures to the pros. Tennessee hit the portal hard to replace production, landing catcher Cannon Peebles, third baseman Billy Amick, right-handed pitcher Nate Snead, catcher Dalton Bargo and right-handed pitcher AJ Causey.

That transfer class will help Vitello replace the departing Chase Dollander, Maui Ahuna, Chase Burns, Andrew Lindsey and Griffin Merritt. Tennessee will return names like Christian Moore, Hunter Ensley, Blake Burke, Drew Beam, Zane Denton, Dylan Dreiling and Kavares Tears.

Tennessee will open the season a month from today, playing in the Shriners Children’s College Baseball Showdown. The Volunteers will face Texas Tech, Oklahoma and Baylor in Arlington, Texas over a three-day span.

The Vols will play UNC Asheville in their home opener on February 20th at Lindsey Nelson.

D1 Baseball Top 25 Preseason Poll

1. Wake Forest
2. Florida
3. Arkansas
4. LSU
5. TCU
6. Vanderbilt
7. Oregon State
8. Texas A&M
9. Tennessee
10. Clemson
11. East Carolina
12. Duke
13. NC State
14. Virginia
15. North Carolina
16. Texas
17. UC Santa Barbara
18. Coastal Carolina
19. Alabama
20. Iowa
21. Texas Tech
22. UCLA
23. Northeastern
24. Kansas State
25. South Carolina