A closer look at Tennessee Baseball's opponents in the Knoxville Regional

Tennessee Baseball is the No. 14 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament and will host the Knoxville Regional for the fourth time in the last five seasons. The full 64-team bracket was revealed on Monday afternoon, with the Vols hosting No. 2-seed Wake Forest, No. 3 Cincinnati and No. 4 Miami (Ohio).

Tennessee will face Miami (Ohio) on Friday then will matchup against either Wake Forest or Cincinnati on Saturday in the double-elimination format. Tennessee is opposite of Arkansas, the No. 3 overall seed, in the NCAA Tournament bracket.

Here’s a closer look at the opposition in this weekend’s Knoxville Regional:

No. 2 Wake Forest

Record: 36-20 | RPI: No. 30 | Conference Finish: 16-14 ACC, 8th

The Path: Sophomore Kade Lewis leads Wake Forest in batting average (.392), OPS (1.130), slugging percentage (.632), hits (80), doubles (16) and total bases (129). He’s third in home runs with 11 and one of five Wake players with 10 or more home runs this season. He’s third in RBI with 57 and one of three Deacs 57 or more RBI on the season. Jack Winnay leads the team in home runs (14) and RBI (59).

The Ace: Sophomore right-hander Blake Morningstar is 6-1 in 13 starts and 14 appearances, with a 2.71 ERA and 1.14 WHIP in 73.0 innings pitched. He has 82 strikeouts against 25 walks, while opposing hitters are batting .273 against him. Former Tennessee pitcher Matthew Dallas went 4-1 in 13 starts at Wake Forest this season, with a 5.09 ERA over 53.0 innings pitched. He has 59 strikeouts against 28 walks. 

The Offense: Sophomore Kade Lewis leads Wake Forest in batting average (.392), OPS (1.130), slugging percentage (.632), hits (80), doubles (16) and total bases (129). He’s third in home runs with 11 and one of five Wake players with 10 or more home runs this season. He’s third in RBI with 57 and one of three Deacs 57 or more RBI on the season. Jack Winnay leads the team in home runs (14) and RBI (59).

No. 3 Cincinnati

Record: 32-24 | RPI: No. 34 | Conference Finish: 16-14 Big 12, 8th

The Path: Cincinnati, which is No. 21 in strength of schedule, beat Texas Tech to open the Big 12 Tournament in Arlington, Texas, then lost 10-3 to No. 1-seed West Virginia a day later. The Bearcats won Big 12 series against Kansas State, Kansas, Oklahoma State, Arizona State, Texas Tech and UCF and dropped series against TCU, West Virginia, Arizona and BYU.

The Ace: Sophomore right-hander Nathan Taylor and redshirt senior lefty Kellen O’Connor have combined to start 25 games and make 30 appearances. Taylor is 6-2 with a 3.67 ERA and 1.33 WHIP in 81.0 innings while O’Connor is 3-2 with a 4.68 ERA and 1.24 WHIP in 65.1 innings. 

The Offense: Redshirt senior infielder Kerrington Cross leads Cincinnati in batting average (.399), OPS (1.182), slugging percentage (.657), hits (79) and runs (63). He’s second in home runs (12) and RBI (49). Landon Vidourek has a team-high 14 home runs.

No. 4 Miami (Ohio)

Record: 35-21 | RPI: No. 80 | Conference Finish: 23-7 MAC, T-1st

The Path: Miami finished tied for first with Kent State at 23-7 in the regular-season MAC standings, then won the MAC Tournament title after beating Toledo on Saturday. Miami is ranked No. 139 in strength of schedule. Miami played one SEC opponent this season, losing 4-3 at Kentucky on April 15.

The Ace: Redshirt sophomore right-hander Cooper Katskee went 11-1 in 15 starts with a 2.66 ERA over a team-high 81.1 innings pitched. He has a 0.98 WHIP and has 69 strikeouts against 26 walks. He started nine times in 15 appearances this season, with two complete games and 11 outings of five innings or longer. Opposing batter are hitting .186 against Katskee.

The Offense: Redshirt junior infielder Evan Appelwick leads Miami in home runs (19), RBI (71), runs (62), slugging percentage (.647) and OPS (1.100). He’s fourth in batting average (.319), behind Dominic Krupinski (.361), Anthony Zarlingo (.346) and Dillon Baker (.336). Zarlingo leads the team in hits (74), Dillon leads in doubles (23) and Ryan Novak leads in triples (5).