College Baseball Is Back

College baseball is finally back! Many months of anticipation were leading up to this season with the Ole Miss Cinderella story last year, LSU being ranked the number one transfer school, and Tennessee coming in with high expectations again after losing in the super regional to Notre Dame.

Sticking to the Tennessee theme, they came into this past weekend with very high expectations after their 2022 season came up short. Most teams played in the desert invitational; GCU, Michigan, and Michigan State are a couple of teams that played this last weekend. 

The Arizona Wildcats had their own definition of a Cinderella story for opening weekend, facing the number two-ranked vols. Chase Dollander, Preseason First Team All-America nominee, was the starting pitcher for the Vols. There was a lot of pressure going into this season for the Vols after a heartbreak last year. Dollander also had an outstanding preseason, and for the wildcats, TJ Nichols, a junior righthander, pitched for the Cats. The Vols struck first in the top of the first, but the Wildcats had an answer and put up a run to match it.

After both teams put up a run and the Cats took the lead. In the bottom of the second, the Wildcats put up another run with a towering home run by Tony Bullard with all-star Juan Soto on the call. An aggressive offseason truly helped the Wildcats pull out of this one. After the second inning, it became a pitching battle, Dollander, through 4.2 innings, struck out seven but still gave up a couple of runs.

Nichols, through six, and holding the number two offense in the nation to only one run on opening day. After Nichols was pulled, the Wildcats bullpen did its job allowing just three hits and four strikeouts in the final stretch to put an end to the Vols' chances. Mac Bingham also helped extend the wildcat's lead in the bottom of the eighth with a double in left field. Leaving the Vols upset for opening day. The Wildcats have also won 15 consecutive opening days in a row.