Tennessee baseball pitcher Matthew Dallas to enter transfer portal after one season

OMAHA, Neb. — Matthew Dallas is entering the transfer portal after one season with Tennessee baseball, a source with direct knowledge confirmed Thursday to Knox News.

Dallas, a highly coveted recruit, was 1-0 with a 4.76 ERA in 15 appearances, with two starts, as a freshman after battling injury issues during fall 2023. He allowed nine earned runs on 11 hits in 17 innings, pitching only two innings in May, including a one-inning outing against Vanderbilt on May 22 in the SEC tournament in Hoover, Alabama.

The 6-foot-5 left-hander did not make the postseason roster for Tennessee during the NCAA tournament.

The No. 1 Vols (58-12) and No. 3 Texas A&M (52-13) start the College World Series final on Saturday (7:30 p.m. ET, ESPN) at Charles Schwab Field in Omaha, Nebraska. It is a best-of-three series.

Matthew Dallas enters transfer portal after freshman season with Vols

Dallas posted a 0.80 ERA with 102 strikeouts in 52⅔ innings as a senior at Briarcrest Christian outside Memphis. He was 2-2 with 74 strikeouts as a junior. He passed on the 2023 MLB Draft and opted for Tennessee; he is eligible for the draft after his sophomore season.

Dallas started the gold medal game for the Team USA U18 team in 2022, throwing 3⅓ innings with three strikeouts and allowing an unearned run against Chinese Taipei.

Dallas’ older brother Michael signed with Kentucky out of high school. He transferred to Jacksonville State, where he hit .256 in 25 games as a sophomore in 2023. Blake, another older brother, played college baseball at Christian Brothers University.

Matthew Dallas is the third Tennessee baseball player in portal

Dallas joined left-handed pitcher Wyatt Evans and third baseman Zane Denton in entering the transfer portal following the season. Neither Evans nor Denton was with the Vols in 2024.

Evans was mostly a midweek bullpen arm as a freshman in 2022 when he threw 16 innings in 19 appearances. The South Carolina native dealt with arm soreness in 2023 and redshirted. He did not make the active roster at any point in 2024.

Denton did not play for Tennessee in 2024 due to personal reasons after announcing in August that he was returning to UT for a second season after going undrafted in the 2023 MLB Draft. Denton hit .269 with 16 homers and a team-high 59 RBIs in 2023 after transferring from Alabama.

TRACKER: Tennessee baseball transfer tracker: Vols working in transfer portal again

Mike Wilson covers University of Tennessee athletics. Email him at michael.wilson@knoxnews.com and follow him on Twitter @ByMikeWilson. If you enjoy Mike’s coverage, consider a digital subscription that will allow you access to all of it.