Tennessee baseball is pursuing another College World Series trip.
The Vols take on Arkansas in the Fayetteville Super Regional, which starts June 7 (5 p.m. ET, ESPN) at Baum-Walker Stadium. Tennessee (46-17) is in a super regional for a fifth straight season, the longest streak in the nation.
UT and Arkansas played in the final weekend of the regular season with the Razorbacks (46-13) winning the series.
Here is what to know about the super regional:
How should Tennessee approach pitching vs Arkansas?
Tennessee got the benefit of the final start time among the eight super regionals, which helps after the Vols had to play a Game 7 to win the regional on June 2.
Still, it is likely that Marcus Phillips would be more logical to start Game 1 against Arkansas after a week off between his start in the regional and the super opener. Liam Doyle could pitch Game 2 after he threw 21 pitches to get the save against Wake Forest after throwing 104 in the regional opener against Miami (Ohio).
Phillips won at Arkansas in the series opener on May 15.
Tennessee’s Game 3 choice remains the question mark, if the super regional goes to a third game. AJ Russell pitched against Cincinnati before coming back to start in the finale against Wake Forest. Tegan Kuhns and Brandon Arvidson also are options.
Arkansas offense kept rolling in NCAA regional
Arkansas possessed the SEC’s best offense through the regular season and it kept hitting in the regional.
The Razorbacks hit .320 in their three-game romp of the Fayetteville Regional, which it won with an 8-3 victory against Creighton. Arkansas had lost back-to-back home regionals as its offense sputtered. The Razorbacks hit .249 in the prior two regionals and hit .148 in regional final losses.
Arkansas leads the SEC with a .313 batting average and a .423 on-base percentage. It ranks second in slugging percentage at .560.
Shortstop Wehiwa Aloy was named the SEC player of the year after hitting .358 with 18 homers and 58 RBIs with 72 runs in the regular season.
Tennessee, Arkansas are two of most consistent programs in the nation
Tennessee and Arkansas are the two most consistent college baseball programs in the 2020s.
UT leads the nation in wins since the start of the 2021 season with 258. Arkansas is second with 228. The Vols and Razorbacks are the only two power-conference teams in the nation to win at least 40 games in every season since 2019. They are the only teams with winning records in the SEC in each of the past five seasons as well.
Tennessee has been to the College World Series in three of the past four seasons, including winning the national title in 2024. The Razorbacks reached the CWS in 2022.
Mike Wilson covers University of Tennessee athletics. Email him at michael.wilson@knoxnews.com and follow him on X @ByMikeWilson or Bluesky @bymikewilson.bsky.social. If you enjoy Mike’s coverage, consider a digital subscription that will allow you access to all of it.
