If all goes as planned, Tennessee baseball’s Nate Snead will some day soon pitch for an MLB team. 

He got a sneak preview of what the mound might feel like this week. 

Snead returned home to Milwaukee to celebrate Tennessee baseball’s national championship in recent days, and part of the festivities included throwing out the ceremonial first pitch before the Milwaukee Brewers’ 8-3 win over the Atlanta Braves on Tuesday night at American Family Field. 

Snead, wearing a hat with the phrase “Great Day to be a Vol” emblazoned on it and an orange Tennessee shirt, posed for photos with Brewers manager Pat Murphy and first base coach Quentin Berry. He may not have thrown a strike, based on his reaction and the message sent out by Tennessee baseball’s X account chronicling the moment.

“Awesome experience,” Snead tweeted afterwards.

The Wichita State transfer became a crucial member of Tennessee’s pitching staff during the program’s first national title run. Snead, a sophomore this past season, appeared in five of the Vols’ six College World Series games, including a save in Game 2 of the championship series against Texas A&M and 1 2/3 innings of relief in the series-clinching Game 3.

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Snead pitched at South Milwaukee High School and threw the school’s first perfect game before spending his freshman year of college at Wichita State. Hundreds of people gathered at South Milwaukee’s Bucyrus Commons last Thursday to celebrate Snead’s accomplishments at Tennessee with a proclamation ceremony.

Earlier this summer, Snead was also a member of USA Baseball’s Collegiate National Team along with Tennessee shortstop Dean Curley. 

Snead finished the 2024 season with a 10-2 record and a team-best 3.11 earned run average. He’s likely to move from mostly working out of the bullpen to being a starter for the Vols, a transition MLB scouts will be watching closely ahead of the 2025 MLB draft.