Tennessee baseball to face VCU in Chapel Hill Regional elimination game

Tennessee baseball will face VCU on Saturday at Noon Eastern Time on ESPN+ in an elimination game in the Chapel Hill Regional.

The Vols opened the NCAA Tournament with a 7-3 loss to East Carolina in 14 innings on Friday at North Carolina’s Boshamer Stadium. North Carolina then beat VCU 8-0 in Friday’s second game in Chapel Hill.

Tennessee (38-21) is the No. 2 seed in the Chapel Hill Regional and VCU (37-24) is the No. 4 seed. East Carolina (37-22-1) is the No. 3 seed and North Carolina (46-11-1) is the No. 1 seed and host.

Should the Vols stay alive in the double-elimination format with a win over VCU, they would face the North Carolina-East Carolina loser in Sunday’s first game.

Chapel Hill Regional Schedule

All games will be played at Boshamer Stadium in a double-elimination bracket.

Friday, May 29

• Game 1: No. 3 East Carolina 7, No. 2 Tennessee 3 (14 innings)
• Game 2: No. 1 UNC 8, No. 4 VCU 0

Saturday, May 30

• Game 3: Tennessee vs. VCU, Noon ET (elimination game)
• Game 4: East Carolina vs. North Carolina, 5 p.m. ET

Sunday, May 31

• Game 5: Game 3 winner vs. Game 4 loser, TBD (elimination game)
• Game 6: Game 4 winner vs. Game 5 winner, TBD

Monday, June 1

• Game 7: Regional championship game (if necessary), TBD

Tennessee baseball history on the road in NCAA Tournament regionals

Tennessee has gone on the road five times in the regional format — either six-team or four-team regionals — going back to 1993. The Vols have advanced out of a road regional just once, doing so at Clemson three years ago. 

Tennessee won the Clemson Regional in 2023 with an 8-1 win over Charlotte in the opener, a 6-5 win in a 14-inning thriller over Clemson then a 9-2 win in its second meeting with Charlotte.

The Vols lost to Liberty to open the Chapel Hill Regional at North Carolina in 2019, stayed alive with a 10-3 win over UNC Wilmington and a 6-5 win in a 10-inning rematch with Liberty, then saw the season end in a 5-2 loss to North Carolina.

Tennessee went to UNC Wilmington in 2004 and split losses to Wilmington around a win over Stony Brook to end the 2004 season at Grainger Stadium in Kinston, N.C.

In 1996 Tennessee was the runner-up in the Clemson Regional after going 3-2. The stay in 1997 wasn’t nearly as along. It started with a 5-2 win over Ohio, but ended with back-to-back losses to host Oklahoma State (6-1) and then UCLA (5-3).