KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Tennessee baseball will be a unanimous top-five team when it opens its 2023 season against Arizona on Feb. 17 at the MLB Desert Invitational.
The Volunteers enter the season ranked No. 2 in five of the six major college baseball polls, marking their highest preseason ranking in program history and their first top-10 preseason ranking since the 2006 team started the year ranked as high as No. 9 by Baseball America.
UT’s 2023 preseason rankings are as follows:
D1Baseball.com – No. 2
USA Today – No. 2 (Six First-Place Votes)
Baseball America – No. 2
NCBWA – No. 2
Perfect Game – No. 2
Collegiate Baseball News – No. 5
The Big Orange once again come into the year with high expectations after a record-setting season in 2022 that saw them post a new program benchmark for victories (57) and win the SEC regular season and SEC Tournament titles for the first time since 1995.
Last year’s squad ascended to No. 1 in national rankings for the first time in program history and was ranked No. 1 in at least one poll for 12 weeks of the season while spending 10 weeks as the nation’s unanimous top-ranked team.
The Vols return 18 letterwinners from last year’s club, including the majority of their pitching staff that led the nation in ERA (2.51), WHIP (1.00) and walks allowed/nine innings (2.48) while also setting program records in opponent batting average (.199), strikeouts (695) and strikeouts/nine innings (10.5).
Tennessee’s entire starting rotation from last season is back with the likes of Chase Dollander, Chase Burns and Drew Beam, who have all been tabbed as preseason All-Americans by multiple outlets.
Veteran right hander Camden Sewell also opted to return to Rocky Top for one more year and was named a preseason All-American by the NCBWA and Collegiate Baseball News. Other notable returners on the mound include NCBWA Preseason All-American reliever Kirby Connell (30 appearances, 4-0, 1.66 ERA) and fellow lefty Zander Sechrist (17 appearances, 11 starts, 4-0, 1.67 ERA).
The Vols will have to replace eight starters in the lineup but bring back a solid mix of players with high-end talent and experience, including some key transfers in preseason All-American shortstop Maui Ahuna (Kansas), 2022 American Athletic Conference Player of the Year Griffin Merritt (Cincinnati) and Zane Denton, an everyday starter at third base for Alabama over the past three seasons.
Baseball America Preseason All-American Jared Dickey also returns after a breakout year in 2022. He’s joined by talented sophomores Blake Burke (2022 Freshman All-American) and Christian Moore (.305 batting average, 10 HRs in 2022), while veteran outfielders Christian Scott (116 career games played) and Kyle Booker (56 career games played) are back as well and are among a handful of returners that will vie for significant roles this season.
UT will head out west to the greater Phoenix area to begin its 2023 campaign at the MLB Desert Invitational where it will face the likes of Arizona, Grand Canyon and UC San Diego. The Vols home opener is scheduled for Tuesday, Feb. 21 against Alabama A&M.
-UT Athletics
