A Deep Dive Into Tennessee Baseball's 2026 Schedule

We are now just two weeks away from Opening Day with excitement building around the Vols 2026 campaign as Tennessee looks to win another National Championship.

Josh Elander fields questions from the media after he was formally introduced as Tennessee’s new baseball coach on October 27, 2025, in Knoxville, Tenn. | Saul Young/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

We are now just two weeks away from opening day baseball as the Vols prepare to go all the way to Omaha for the fourth time in six years. In order to do this, they will have to do it under first-year head coach Josh Elander, following the departure of Tony Vitello. Elander will have his hands full, but he has his Vols ready to go in 2026. With that being said, here is a deep dive into the 2026 season, which is sure to be a fun one.

Tennessee Baseball 2026 Schedule

Tennessee's Reese Chapman (13) and Levi Clark (30) cheer for teammates Manny Marin (4) as he rounds the bases after hitting a home run at the NCAA college baseball Knoxville Regional final against Wake Forest on June 2, 2025, in Knoxville, Tenn. | Saul Young/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Tennessee opens its season with a three-game series against Nicholls State at the newly renovated Lindsey Nelson Stadium. After home stints versus UNC Asheville, Kent State, and Bellarmine, Tennessee will participate in the Amegy Bank College Baseball Series in Arlington, Texas. They will play their only Power Five non-conference opponents of the season at the event: UCLA, Arizona State, and Virginia Tech. All will be great games that will help the team improve before SEC play begins. 

After a few more mid-major games, the Vols will finally get to their SEC schedule with a series against UGA in Athens. Quick fun fact: former Georgia star Charlie Condon, who was drafted third overall in the 2024 MLB Draft, has a younger brother who signed with Tennessee baseball and will join the Vols next year. 

After one more SEC series and a few more non-conference games, Tennessee will make the short trip to Nashville to take on rivals Vanderbilt. The Vols lost the season series to Vandy last year, and the Commodores eliminated them from the SEC tournament last season. 

April will be a hard month for the Vols; they open the month versus the preseason number one team in the country (per Perfect Game), LSU, and they follow it up the next week with a trip to Starkville to take on the preseason sixth-ranked Mississippi State Bulldogs. Following a series against Ole Miss, Alabama, and Kentucky, the preseason eighth-ranked team in the country, Texas, travels to Knoxville (with a couple of non-conference games in between).

After that gauntlet, Tennessee will close out the regular season by traveling to Norman with a three-game series against the Oklahoma Sooners.

The SEC tournament begins on May 24th, where the Vols will look to win the SEC for the third time in the past five years and their sixth overall tournament championship.

The road to Omaha will be no easy task, but the Vols are certainly more than up to the challenge. 

---