CLEMSON, S.C. – Tennessee Baseball will open the 2023 NCAA Tournament in the Clemson Regional where they are the No. 2 seed. Action begins at Doug Kingsmore Stadium starting at 6 p.m. ET Friday evening.
The Vols (38-19) will open the regional against Conference-USA tournament champion Charlotte (34-26). The 49ers won the final five games of the C-USA Tournament in Houston, Texas, last weekend after dropping their tournament opener to Louisiana Tech on Wednesday.
Tennessee will be playing its first game in 10 days, but finished the season strong, winning 15 of its last 20 games and taking the final series of the regular-season at South Carolina.
For the most up-to-date scores, links and other information, visit the NCAA Clemson Regional Central Page.
NCAA CLEMSON REGIONAL SCHEDULE
Friday, June 2
Game 1 – Clemson vs. Lipscomb | 1 p.m. ET | Watch (ESPN+)
Game 2 – Tennessee vs. Charlotte | 6 p.m. ET | Watch (ESPNU) | Listen (Vol Network)
Saturday, June 4
Game 3 – Loser of Game 1 vs. Loser of Game 2 | Noon ET
Game 4 – Winner of Game 1 vs. Winner of Game 2 | 6 p.m. ET
Sunday, June 5
Game 5 – Winner of Game 3 vs. Loser of Game 4 | Noon ET
Game 6 – Winner of Game 5 vs. Winner of Game 4 | 6 p.m. ET
Monday, June 6
Game 7 (if necessary) – Winner of Game 6 vs. Loser of Game 6 | TBA
PROJECTED STARTING PITCHERS
Friday, June 2 (6 p.m. ET) [ESPNU] – Tennessee vs. Charlotte
RHP Andrew Lindsey (2-2, 2.54 ERA) vs. LHP Collin Kramer (6-4, 4.55 ERA)
TICKET INFO
Tickets for this weekend’s regional are available online through Ticketmaster and can be purchased HERE.
All tickets are mobile and fans should download tickets to their mobile devices prior to arriving to Doug Kingsmore Stadium.
Fans are encouraged to visit the Clemson Ticketing Guide available HERE to get answers to any ticketing questions prior to arriving to Doug Kingsmore Stadium, including a general overview of how to manage their tickets, how to add their tickets to their mobile wallet prior to each game, how to transfer tickets if they are unable to attend a game and more.
PARKING INFORMATION
All parking lots surrounding Doug Kingsmore Stadium are free and open, with the exception of the ADA parking (for fans with a state-issued placard) at the home plate lot and the lot outside the left-field gate. Click HERE for the stadium and parking lot diagram. Please note that Lot 5 at Memorial Stadium is closed in the spring of 2023 while under construction.
BROADCAST INFO
TV/Stream: ESPN Family of Networks & ESPN+ (Online Stream)
Talent: Tom Hart (PxP) & Kyle Peterson (Analyst)
Radio: Vol Network (FM 99.1 / AM 990) | Tennessee Athletics App | Varsity App | UTSports.com
Talent: John Wilkerson
NCAA TOURNAMENT HISTORY
Appearances: 13 (Most Recent: 2022)
Regional Record: 27-13 (.675)
College World Series Appearances: 5 (1951, 1995, 2001, 2005, 2021)
This will be UT’s 13th appearance in the NCAA Tournament and the fourth consecutive tournament Tennessee has participated in. Four-straight postseason appearances marks the second-longest streak in program history.
SERIES HISTORY
vs. Clemson
Overall: Clemson leads, 23-11
In Knoxville: Clemson leads, 9-5
In Clemson: Clemson leads, 13-3
at Neutral Sites: Tennessee leads, 3-1
Last Meeting: L, 5-13 (Feb. 15, 1997, in Clemson)
vs. Charlotte
Overall: Tennessee leads, 4-2
In Knoxville: Tennessee leads, 4-1
In Charlotte: Charlotte leads, 1-0
Last Meeting: L, 0-9 (Mar. 9, 2021, in Charlotte)
vs. Lipscomb
Overall: Tennessee leads, 13-2
In Knoxville: Tennessee leads, 10-1
In Nashville: Tennessee leads, 2-1
at Neutral Sites: Tennessee leads, 1-0
Last Meeting: W, 10-0 (Mar. 14, 2022, in Knoxville)
NOTABLE
TENNESSEE POSIED FOR ANOTHER DEEP TOURNAMENT RUN
The Vols enter this weekend’s NCAA Regional rested and ready to make another deep postseason run after advancing to two straight NCAA Super Regionals over the past two years. Entering the weekend, Tennessee has won six straight NCAA Regional games, the longest streak in program history. However, in order to advance to their third consecutive Super Regional, the Big Orange will have to win a regional away from Knoxville for the first time in program history.
UT will have had nine days between games when it opens regional play against Charlotte on Friday evening, giving the team plenty of time to rest and get healthy for a postseason run. UT boasts one of the nation’s deepest and most talented pitching staffs, which should be a major advantage throughout the postseason.
The Vols finished the season strong, going 15-5 over their last 20 games entering the NCAA Tournament, including an 11-4 record over their final five SEC series.
VOLS ARE BATTLE TESTED
Tennessee has had no shortage of games against top-end competition this season after playing seven series (21 games) against ranked foes this year. UT won four of those seven series, including taking two of three on the road against No. 9 South Carolina to close out the regular season.
The Big Orange went 12-9 overall against ranked teams in the regular season, including a 9-3 mark home after their series win over No. 15 Kentucky (May 12-14). UT is 61-52 overall against ranked teams under head coach Tony Vitello.
The Vols played four consecutive series against top-five foes and faced No. 2 Vandy, No. 5 Arkansas, No. 2 Florida, No. 1 LSU and No. 12 Texas A&M in five straight weekend series, posting an 8-7 record during that stretch.
Since Vitello became UT’s head coach in 2018, the Vols have posted 28 victories over teams ranked in the top 10 and seven wins over top-ranked teams – LSU in 2023, Ole Miss (x3) in 2022, Arkansas in 2021, Texas Tech in 2020 and Florida in 2018.
DICKEY DOING IT ALL, NAMED TO ALL-SEC SECOND TEAM
Redshirt sophomore Jared Dickey was UT’s top hitter throughout SEC play and was rewarded by being named to the All-SEC second team. He was the lone representative for Tennessee on the All-SEC postseason teams.
Dickey enters the weekend having reached base safely in 29 of his last 32 games played with hits in 22 of his last 25 contests, including 17 of his last 18 SEC games.
The Mount Juliet, Tennessee, native leads the team with 21 multi-hit games, a .343 batting average, 70 hits, three triples and 118 total bases.
Dickey was even better in SEC play, leading the team in batting average (.369), hits (41), triples (1), total bases (64), on-base percentage (.432) and stolen bases (4-4) in league play. In conference only games, he ranked third in the SEC in batting average and was tied for fifth in hits.
Dickey has also been extremely valuable for the Vols defensively with his ability to play all three outfield spots, as well as catcher. He has started at five different positions this season: left field (30), catcher (8), center field (6), right field (6) and designated hitter (4).
OPPONENT SCOUT
Charlotte 49ers
- 2023 Record: 34-26 (17-12 CUSA)
- Head Coach: Roland Fanning (first season)
- Postseason Honors:
- Cam Fisher: Second Team All-America, Collegiate Baseball; First Team All-Conference
- Wyatt Hudepohl: First Team All-Conference
- Kaden Hopson: Second Team All-Conference
- Jack Dragum: Second Team All-Conference
- Stat Leaders:
- Average: Cam Fisher (.352)
- OBP: Cam Fisher (.509)
- SLG: Cam Fisher (.831)
- OPS: Cam Fisher (1.340)
- Hits: Cam Fisher (75)
- Runs: Cam Fisher (70)
- RBIs: Cam Fisher (64)
- Doubles: Brandon Stahlman (15)
- Triples: three tied (1)
- Home Runs: Cam Fisher (30)
- Stolen Bases: Blake Jackson (9)
- ERA: Paxton Thompson (4.10)
- WHIP: Wyatt Hudepohl (1.17)
- BAA: Cameron Hansen (.226)
- Innings Pitched: Wyatt Hudepohl (97.1)
- Strikeouts: Wyatt Hudepohl (118)
- Wins: Paxton Thompson (7)
- Saves: Evan Michelson (6)
-UT Athletics
