Published Jul 8, 2024
COMMIT ALERT: Tennessee baseball lands Niagra 1B Eric Rataczak
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Ryan Sylvia  •  VolReport
Assistant Managing Editor
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@RyanTSylvia

Tennessee baseball has landed its third player out of the transfer portal and second position player.

Joining infielder Gavin Kilen and pitcher Tanner Franklin, Niagra first baseman Eric Rataczak has picked the Vols over multiple other SEC offers.

Ratacak will enter his redshirt senior season.

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Rataczak previously played for San Diego (Club) and Arizona Western College before landing at Niagra. In his lone season with the Purple Eagles, he led the MAAC in batting average, OPS, RBI and on-base percentage.

This set the new program single-season record for runs, hits, home runs and RBI. He finished the season with a 19-game on-base streak that he'll bring into his Tennessee tenure.

Overall, this impressive season resulted in him earning MAAC Player of the Year honors along with an unanimous selection to the MAAC First Team.

At the plate, he posted a .396 batting average in 55 games played and 53 starts. He smacked 17 home runs, drove in 71 runs and crossed himself for 59 runs. His at-bats resulted in him being on base almost half the time with a .485 on-base percentage.

In the field, Rataczak notched a .982 fielding percentage. He was responsible for 354 put-outs and 19 assists while making seven errors.

With the expected departure of Blake Burke to the MLB draft, Rataczak is a candidate to take over as the starting first baseman. He is yet to face SEC caliber pitching for an entire season, but his prior success bodes well for his Vols tenure.

He is a draft eligible player, though, so there is still a chance he never makes it to campus.

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