Former Tennessee baseball freshman infielder Camden Bates announced his commitment to Arizona State recently after entering the transfer portal on July 3. Bates was one of eight Vols to enter the portal this summer.
“God is so good!” Bates wrote on Instagram. “Thank you Tennessee for an amazing first year and for all of the relationships that I was able to build. I am excited to announce I will be transferring to Arizona State University. Thank you to everyone who has helped me through this journey.”
Bates received eight at-bats in 10 games this season for the Vols. He tallied two hits to hit .250. One of his two hits was a three-run home run to left field for his first career long ball during a midweek win over Alabama A&M.
The Washington, Okla. native was ranked by Perfect Game as the No. 377 overall prospect in the class of 2023. He was considered the No. 74 overall shortstop and the No. 4 overall player in the state of Oklahoma out of Washington High School.
Bates was one of four infielders to enter the portal this offseason along with third baseman Zane Denton, middle infielder Bradke Lohry and utility man Robin Villeneuve. Denton entered the portal after electing to sit out this past season. He has since committed to Austin Peay, while Lohry committed to USF and Villeneuve committed to Texas Tech.
Redshirt-sophomore left-handed pitcher Wyatt Evans was the first player to enter the portal after being left off the active roster prior to the season. Tennessee freshmen pitchers Matthew Dallas, Daniel Parris and Derek Schaefer also elected to transfer. Evans committed to South Carolina, Dallas committed to Wake Forest and Schaefer transferred to Arizona State.
The Vols won their first national championship in their seventh appearance at the Men’s College World Series last month. It was their first appearance in the CWS Finals since 1951 when they finished as the runner-up to Oklahoma.
Tennessee baseball became the first No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament to win the national championship since Miami did so in 1999. UT also became the first SEC team to reach the 60-win mark in a single season and just the fourth conference team to win the SEC regular season title, SEC Tournament title and the NCAA Men’s College World Series in the same year.
Tony Vitello’s first national championship during his seventh season as head coach at Tennessee came in his fifth NCAA Tournament appearance, and in UT’s third trip to Omaha in the last four seasons. UT is the only SEC program and one of just two teams nationally (Virginia) to have appeared in the College World Series in three of the last four seasons (2021, 2023, 2024). It just completed its first back-to-back trips.
In its five NCAA Tournament appearances under Vitello, Tennessee baseball is 27-11 overall. Vitello’s 27 NCAA Tournament wins are tied for the most in UT history with the legendary Rod Delmonico, who is the program’s all-time wins leader overall (699) and in the NCAA Tournament (27). Delmonico went 27-19 overall in eight NCAA Tournament appearances while leading the Vols to the College World Series three times (1995, 2001, 2005).
