KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WATE) – Post-season baseball is making its long-awaited return to Knoxville. The NCAA governing body announced that Lindsey Nelson Stadium will serve as one of 16 host sites for the regional round of the NCAA Tournament.
Friday’s NCAA opener will be the first time postseason baseball has been played in Knoxville since 2005.
“It would mean everything,” senior Pete Derkay said about the Vol’s potential to host a Regional. “Just to see how far this program’s come in my time here, it’s something that’s going to be very special for me to experience.
“It was just kind of motivation to get back home for one and let this fan base come out and be that extra motivation that we need going forward.”
Tennessee athletics has already begun preparing for host duties this week by adding additional seating to Lindsey Nelson Stadium.
D1 Baseball has Tennessee projected as the No. 2 national seed in the NCAA Tournament. The Super Regional sites will not be officially decided until the Regionals are finished. However, if a top eight seed wins its Regional it would almost certainly host a Super Regional as long as they submitted a bid to do so, which Tennessee did.
Other SEC schools that will host include Vanderbilt, Arkansas, Mississippi State, Ole Miss, South Carolina and Florida.
The tournament bracket will be released at noon Monday, May 31, on ESPN2. According to UT athletics, tickets will be available after the selection show. at AllVols.com.
