Tennessee's first-ever national title run ended with Aaron Combs' signature smile and a strikeout at Charles Schwab Field in Omaha, but it may have started in Nashville.

In a no-stakes scrimmage against Samford at First Horizon Park in fall 2023, there was a moment where the Vols looked less like the team that would shrug off a Texas A&M push in the ninth inning of the biggest game in program history eight months later and more like a team that had more questions than answers.

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"That was probably the most contentious moment we had as a group last year," Tennessee head coach Tony Vitello said. "We were blessed beyond belief last year. So there were very few times there were blow ups or having to correct behavior, but our guys needed to play better in order to beat a team like that."

Five games into its defense of that College World Series crown, No. 4 Tennessee (4-0) will meet Samford (3-1) again, this time for a three game series at Lindsey Nelson Stadium that will count this weekend.

The Bulldogs could be the first challenger that the Vols, who won their first four games by scoring a combined 75 runs while allowing just six in 21 innings, flashing a lineup that is already on pace for records shattered a year ago.

Samford, which opened the season with a series sweep of Valparaiso before losing to Jacksonville State in the midweek, was picked second in the Southern Conference preseason poll.

After splitting games against Tennessee in that fall scrimmage, the Bulldogs finished 36-22 overall and 14-22 in the SoCon with a win over No. 10 and CWS bound Kentucky the highlight of their resume.

It is a program that has given plenty of SEC teams fits over the last couple of years and the transfer portal era has shown it is recruiting league-caliber players.

"They’re good at recruiting players that maybe are overlooked a little bit," Vitello said. "It’s a great school and a great area. There’s good ball down there, and then clearly they develop players, and we’ve seen that firsthand."

Samford has scored 39 runs and totaled 35 RBIs. They've recorded a .323 team batting average and .935 OPS average through four games.

Liam Doyle had a stellar debut in the Vols' opener against Hofstra. The left-handed Ole Miss transfer struck out 11 and allowed just one hit in 5.0 innings of work. He'll get the starting nod for the second-straight in Game 1 Friday (2 p.m. ET, SEC Network+) week while right-hander Marcus Phillips will start Game 2 Saturday (2 p.m., SEC Network+)

Phillips had four strikeouts with one hit in 4.0 innings in his last outing.

Right-hander Nate Snead started last Sunday, but Vitello hasn't committed to a Game 3 (1 p.m., SEC Network+) Sunday starter this week.

"(Samford is) good," Vitello said. "Last time we played them, we split over there in Nashville, and so we need to put our best foot forward, and I think that involves Liam throwing with a full bullpen behind him, and Marcus (Phillips) will throw game two. We’ll kind of, well for now, we’ll do what we did the first weekend (vs. Hofstra), you know, use those two guys.

"Give Marcus the respect of preparing, and also, he’s earned it, but also really just kind of focus on game one.”

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