Knoxville, Tenn. – Campbell is set to begin the NCAA Tournament at the Knoxville Regional Friday at Lindsey Nelson Stadium. The three-seed Camels open the tournament against two-seed Georgia Tech at noon on ESPN+. The full regional will be aired on the ESPN family of networks.
The regional field consists of first-seeded and top overall national seed Tennessee, second-seeded GT, third-seeded Campbell and fourth-seeded Alabama State.
Weekend Schedule
Friday June 3
Game 1: Campbell vs Georgia Tech – 12:00 pm
Game 2: Alabama State vs Tennessee – 6 pm
Saturday June 4
Game 3: Loser G1 vs Loser G2 – 12:00 pm
Game 4: Winner G1 vs Winner G2 – 7:00 pm
Sunday June 5
Game 5: Winner G3 vs Loser G4 – 2:00 p.m.
Game 6: Winner G4 vs Winner G5 – 7:00 p.m.
Monday June 6 (if necessary)
Game 7: Game 6 rematch
NCAA Tournament History
Campbell has reached the NCAA Tournament for a fourth consecutive time, and the sixth time in program history. In the previous five trips, Campbell has posted a 5-10 record. The Camels have reached the regional final in back-to-back trips in Greenville and Starkville.
Campbell's first regional appearance came in 1990 at the Palo Alto Regional. The Camels did not reach another regional until the 2014 Athens Regional after winning the Big South championship where they earned their first NCAA Tournament win in the second game against Old Dominion.
The run of dominance in the Big South conference began in 2018 as regular season and tournament champs to punch a ticket to the Columbia Regional. The Camels doubled down on titles again in 2019 to reach the Greenville Regional. In Greenville, Campbell began 2-0 and was a win away from advancing to a Super Regional, but was defeated twice by ECU in a doubleheader.
Last season, the Camels earned the program's first at-large bid the the NCAA Tournament. Campbell dropped the opener in Starkville before winning two straight to face Mississippi State in the regional final. Campbell fell 6-5 to MSU, who would go on to win the national championship.
Last Time Out
Campbell won it's sixth Big South Tournament the hard way, dropping the first game to Charleston Southern before reeling off four wins in two days to punch a ticket to the Big Dance.
The Camels walked off against Gardner-Webb for the first win on Friday and came back later that night to knock off USC Upstate. It then took a double-header sweep over Charleston Southern on Saturday to claim the title.
Zach Neto was named tournament MVP by hitting .438 on the week along with earning a save on the mound.
The Field at a Glance
Tennessee
Tennessee has had a historically good season, and enters the tournament as the unanimous #1 and top overall seed. The Volunteers lead the country in a handful of categories on both sides of the ball. Notably, they lead the nation in home runs (141) and team ERA (2.35). They have been walked more than any team in the nation, and issue the fewest walks per nine of any team as well.
The Vols enter with a 50-7 record as the SEC regular season and tournament champions. They are led by Head Coach Tony Vitello.
Georgia Tech
Georgia Tech earned an at-large bid after going 34-22, 15-15 in ACC play. They Yellow Jackets boast one of the nation's top offenses, ranking second nationally in team batting average (.324) and fourth in total scoring (9.3). The offenses woks to make up for a below-average pitching staff that owns a team ERA of 6.54 and allowed 7.3 runs/game.
GT finished fifth in the ACC Coastal Division. The Yellow Jackets are led by head coach Danny Hall.
Alabama State
Alabama State reached the tournament as the SWAC champions, winning their conference championship in a 14-inning thriller to punch a ticket. ASU has a solid Friday-night starter in Breon Pooler who ranks fifth in the nation with 10 wins on the year alongside a 3.19 ERA. Corey King paces the batting order with a .367 average.
The Hornets enter the weekend at 34-23 with a 21-8 mark in the SWAC. They are led by head coach Jose Vazquez.
Weather Report – Knoxville, Tenn.
Friday: 81, cloudy
Saturday: 84, sunny
Sunday: 86, sunny
Keep up with the Camels
Follow @GoCamelsBSB on Twitter and Instagram for in-game updates and additional team content throughout the weekend.
