Former Tennessee baseball infielder Robin Villeneuve announced his transfer destination this week following one season with the Vols.
Tennessee baseball transfer Robin Villeneuve announced his commitment to Texas Tech on Friday evening. Villeneuve spent just one season with the Vols after playing two seasons in junior college at Weatherford College.
“Lets go back to the Lone Star State,” Villeneuve wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, when he announced his decision to play for the Red Raiders.
Villeneuve made 24 starts for the Vols, mostly as the designated hitter, in 35 appearances during his lone season on Rocky Top. He pieced together a .288 batting average, hit five home runs and tallied 22 RBIs.
The Gatineau, Quebec native was a two-time JUCO All-American at Weatherford College. He did so in back-to-back seasons while in Weatherford, Texas. Villeneuve hit .401 in 2023 while smashing 28 home runs, 24 doubles and totaling 102 RBIs. His 28 homers led all players nationally and his 102 RBIs ranked second in the country.
Villeneuve also made four appearances and one start as a pitcher, posting a 2-1 record and 3.00 ERA in 6.0 innings pitched.
Tennessee baseball had eight players enter the transfer portal this offseason. Lohry was one of four infielders to enter along with third baseman Zane Denton, middle infielder Bradke Lohry and freshman middle infielder Camden Bates. Denton entered the portal after electing to sit out this past season. He has since committed to Austin Peay, while Lohry committed to USF.
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).