KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The Tennessee baseball team garnered its second preseason ranking on Monday, coming in at No. 19 in the Baseball America Preseason Top 25.

The Vols are also ranked 19th in the D1Baseball.com Preseason Top 25, which was released last week.

The SEC led all conferences with nine teams in Baseball America’s preseason poll. Florida enters the season ranked No. 1, while No. 5 Ole Miss, No. 6 Vanderbilt, No. 8 Mississippi State and No. 10 LSU all earned top-10 rankings to begin the season.

View Baseball America’s complete preseason top 25 rankings by clicking HERE.

Tennessee was ranked as high as No. 11 last year before the season was halted and eventually canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Vols were off to a 15-2 start and ranked among the nation’s leaders in a number of statistical categories.

UT led the country in runs (180) and ranked second in home runs (31) while batting .320 as a team (fifth nationally). The pitching staff was equally as impressive, ranking fifth nationally in ERA (2.00) and second in WHIP (0.94).

Tennessee returns the vast majority of its production from last season. Returning players accounted for 74% of the team’s hits and 69% of the team’s runs batted in. From a pitching standpoint, UT returns 81% of its total innings pitched and 79% of its strikeouts from last year.

The Vols are set to open their season on February 19 when they travel to Statesboro, Georgia for a weekend series against Georgia Southern. The 2021 schedule can be found by clicking HERE.

For the most up-to-date news and information on Tennessee baseball, visit UTSports.com/sports/baseball and follow the team on social media (Twitter & Instagram: @Vol_Baseball | Facebook.com/VolBaseball).

-UT Athletics