Tennessee heads into the second weekend of the season, set to play four games with an Indiana State program coming off four straight seasons with a winning record in Missouri Valley Conference play and hasn’t recorded a losing record since 2008.

Indiana State opened up its season at Pittsburgh with a Friday night shutout win before being outscored 18-3 in the last two games of the weekend, dropping the series.

“We’re facing a lefty with a 0.00 ERA,” head coach Tony Vitello said. “That's the first thing that sticks out to us. Like a lot of programs in college baseball — the theme won’t end— there’s a lot of older guys on every team, so every team is going to have experience, maturity, a little bit of edge to them because they didn’t play last year and guys are at the end of their career due to the circumstances. Certainly some strong pitching coming at us, and a team that’s known to be gritty. They gave Pittsburgh a run for their money in what seemed to be a pretty good series.”

That lefty with a 0.00 ERA is Indiana State’s Friday starter, Geremy Guerrero. Guerrero was fantastic in the season opener against Pittsburgh, allowing just three hits and one walk in 5.1 innings while striking out six.

Prior to this season, Guerrero had a career 5.37 ERA and had started just 12 of 39 career appearances, including all four of his appearances in 2020.

Indiana State’s batters will start the weekend facing Vols’ RHP Chad Dallas. The junior from Texas was great in his 2021 debut, no-hitting Georgia Southern through six innings before the Eagles chased him from the game with a pair of runs.

“I think step one for everybody, you guys included, is a true Friday night pitching matchup coming your way,” Vitello said.

Connor Cline started three games for Indiana State in the shortened 2020 season and was solid for the Sycamores, recording a 3.18 ERA. Cline earned the Saturday start in Indiana State’s opening series but was given a short leash, getting pulled after surrendering three hits, two walks and one run in 2.1 innings.

The Sycamores opening weekend Sunday starter was Drake Javin. Javin, who transferred from Western Illinois entering the season, was up-and-down in his Indiana State debut, allowing just two hits and one earned run in 3.1 innings but also walking five.

The Sycamores’ pitching depth is one of their weaknesses and could be a real problem for them in the four-game series. Indiana State’s

bullpen gave up 13 of its 15 earned runs in its opening series with Pitt, and the Sycamores have six active pitchers with ERAs higher than 7.25.

At the plate, Indiana State is led by shortstop Jordan Schaffer. The redshirt-junior is one of the best hitters in the Missouri Valley Conference, hitting .316 in 2019 and .339 a season ago. Schaffer hits lead off for the Sycamores and is off to an even hotter start this season, going six-of-13 at the plate in the opening weekend against Pittsburgh.

Outfielder/ catcher Max Wright got off to a strong start to the 2021 season after struggling in the shortened 2020 season. Wright started 57 of 59 games in 2019 when the Sycamores finished second in the Nashville Regional, recording a .296 batting average and 34 RBIs.

Last season Wright hit just .231, but the Toronto native is four-of-12 in the first three games. Wright is also one of the few players that brings any pop to Indiana State’s lineup, hitting seven career home runs.

Redshirt- sophomore Brian Fuentes is another Sycamore that brings some pop to the lineup. The Crystal Lake, Illinois native is hitting just .100 on the young season but led Indiana State with two homers a season ago.

Offense was a struggle for the Sycamores in the shortened 2020 season. Indiana State ranked 236 out of 300 nationally in runs per game, scoring just 4.1 per contest.

Tennessee’s pitching staff will look to continue its strong start and keep Indiana State’s offense at bay in the four game set at Lindsey Nelson Stadium. Friday’s first pitch will come at 4:30 p.m. ET, while Saturday’s double header will begin at noon ET and Sunday’s series finale will start at 1 p.m. ET. All games can be broadcast on SEC

Network+.