The first player from Tennessee baseball's national title-winning squad is off the board in the MLB Draft.

Second baseman Christian Moore was picked in the first round by the Angels.

He was the No. 8 overall selection.

TALK ABOUT IT IN THE ROCKY TOP FORUM

Moore is the fourth player from the SEC grabbed in the 2024 draft behind Charlie Condon, Hagan Smith and Jac Caglianone. He is also the second second baseman selected.

He played three seasons at Tennessee while playing the role of starting second baseman in his final two campaigns.

As a freshman, he typically came off the bench but showed flashes in 51 appearances and 29 starts. He hit .305 with 10 home runs in the season. This was the 2022 season that saw the Vols take the No. 1 overall seed into the NCAA Tournament and won both the regular season and tournament SEC titles.

As a sophomore, Moore played in 63 games while starting 61. He was a key piece of the 2023 team that returned to the College World Series. He hit .304 with 17 home runs while snagging 16 stolen bases.

In the Clemson Regional, he earned MVP as the Vols upset Clemson.

As a junior, Moore was the lead-off hitter. He played and started in 72 games over the course of the year. He posted an average of .375 with an on-base percentage of .451. He nailed a program single-season record 34 home runs and set the program career record at 61.

He was named a First-Team All-American by multiple outlets along with his All-SEC First-Team nod. When looking at SEC stats alone, he was the triple crown leader with the conference lead for hits, RBI and home runs.

Of countless memorable moments, Moore's highlight is likely his phenomenal game one of the 2024 CWS. Against Florida State, he hit for the cycle and came up with a two-out double to keep the inning alive in the bottom of the ninth before Tennessee ultimately produced a walk-off. This was the second ever cycle in CWS history.

He stayed hot through the remainder of the event and was crucial in the Vols' best-of-three series win over Texas A&M in the finals.

Moore has a serious case to be considered the greatest Tennessee baseball player of all time considering the mixture of personal and team success. Now, he'll begin his professional career as a candidate to be another MLB player Tony Vitello has already produced.

–––––

– TALK ABOUT IT IN THE ROCKY TOP FORUM.

– ENJOY VOLREPORT WITH A PREMIUM SUBSCRIPTION.

– SUBSCRIBE TO THE VOLREPORT YOUTUBE CHANNEL.

– FOLLOW VOLREPORT ON TWITTER: @TennesseeRivals, @ByNoahTaylor, @RyanTSylvia, @Dale_Dowden, @ShayneP_Media.

–––––