How many times has Tennessee been to Omaha? Volunteers' CWS finals record explored
The Tennessee Volunteers made it to only their second College World Series Finals on Wednesday with a 7-2 lashing of the Florida State Seminoles in the CWS semifinals.
The Tony Vitello-coached squad smacked their way to the finals by dominating the SEC regular season and the conference tournament, dominating the regional and super regional and sweeping their College World Series foes Florida State and North Carolina.
The 2024 Volunteers ended the 63-year team drought of not making the CWS final. The last time Tennessee made the championship game was in 1951, which was the fifth edition of the college baseball final.
Sidney Hatfield led Tennessee to 1951 College World Series final
Tennessee secured a College World Series berth by topping the 1951 Southeastern Conference regular season with a 16-1 record. This included a 15-game winning streak following a 15-3 loss to Florida in its second game of the season.
The Volunteers' improbable run was led by utility infielder Sidney Hatfield, who was chosen as the Most Outstanding Player in the College World Series. He was the only Volunteer to win the award in the sport.
Tennessee was unbeaten in April and May, winning their series over Georgia Tech (3-0), Georgia (3-0), Vanderbilt (3-0) Florida (2-0) and Kentucky (4-0).
In the College World Series, the Volunteers's 15-game winning streak was broken after losing to Utah, 7-1. The loss relegated Tennessee to the loser's bracket and were forced to play a longer route to make it to the final.
The demotion to the loser's bracket didn't affect Tennessee's rhythm as they notched four straight wins against Princeton (3-2), Springfield (2-0), Utah (5-4) and USC (9-8) to make the final. However, the Volunteers fell short in the final, losing to Oklahoma, 3-2.
Aside from Hatfield, four other Tennessee players won postseason awards. They were Herky Payne, who was chosen as the Second Team All-American by the American Basketball Coaches Association and the trio of Bert Rechicar, Andy Anderson and John Huffstetler, who took home the All-Southeastern Conference awards.
Tennessee goes for first national title against Texas A&M
Tennessee will battle for the national championship against Texas A&M in the best-of-three College World Series final beginning on Saturday, June 22, at the Charles Schwab Field Omaha in Omaha, Nebraska. The first pitch will start at 7:30 p.m. ET with ESPN covering the game live on television and Fubo TV will feature the match via live stream.
First-time College World Series finalists Texas A&M are also looking for their maiden national title since their founding in 1876. They have appeared in eight CWS tournaments and it's only this season that the Aggies made it to the final. Texas A&M made the final with a 6-0 win over Florida in the semifinals on Wednesday.
Will Tennessee beat Texas A&M in the College World Series final to win their first-ever national title? Let us know your views in the comments section.