After starting out the season 1-2 at 2nd ranked Miami last week, coach Rod

Delmonico's Tennessee Volunteers (#25 BW/ESPN) head out west for three

against 4-0 Arizona State (#17 BW/ESPN, #18 BA, #20 CB). ASU's four wins

include two over Southern Utah, as well as Oral Roberts and Oregon State.

While the Sun Devils wait for work to be finished on their home park, the

series will take place at HoHoKam Stadium in Mesa, Arizona, the Spring

Training home of the Chicago Cubs. Gametimes are set for 8:00pm, 3:00pm,

and 3:00pm eastern.

If the weekend goes as planned, it appears that coach Delmonico has already

made a slight modification to his pitching rotation. At this point, it looks

like junior LHP Jeffrey Terrell, who started last Sunday at Miami, will move

up to the Friday spot with Patrick Hicklen and Ben Riley each moving back a

day. Terrell was a busy man against the 'Canes, picking up the save in

Saturday's win before coming back to throw seven innings Sunday. He went to

the bench with his team in front 4-3 before Miami rallied for the series

clincher. Don't be surprised if Terrell starts Friday night's game and then

makes a relief appearance Sunday. In the series opener, Terrell (0-0, 3.52

era) is slated to go up against Arizona State sophomore RHP Mike Esposito

(1-0, 7.20).

Game two will pit Tennessee sophomore and RHP Patrick Hicklen (0-1, 4.91)

opposite fellow second-year man ASU RHP Ryan Schroyer (1-0, 0.00).

The series finale will see Vols sophomore LHP Ben Riley (0-0, 3.68) square

off against Sun Devils junior southpaw Bryce Kartler

(0-0,5.40)

If Tennessee needs help out of the bullpen, look for a couple of freshmen

righthanders to be called upon. Jay Sadlowe, from Farragut will likely be

first up, with Joey Andrews not far behind.

The Vols' offense jumped out of the gate with a little more "pop" than

expected.

After three games, senior left fielder Brandon Hopkins leads the starting

line-up with a .417 average and one of the team's two home runs. Fellow

Knoxville native and right fielder Ryan Moffett had hits in all three games

of the series and accounted for the other dinger as well as a team-leading

four runs batted in. The four Vols from Miami performed nicely in front of

friends and family. Catcher Javi Herrera hit safely in all three games and

drove in three runs in UT's win. First baseman Dennis Gomez hit in two of

the three games, including a pair of hits in game one. Newcomer and

shortstop Walter Sevilla had two multi-hit games against the Hurricanes and

will carry a .385 average into the series against ASU. And, third baseman

Matt Sternberg drove in a run and hit in each of the first two games.

Another Vol to watch is center fielder Jordan Czarniecki (pronounced

Zar-nicky). While covering a large amount of real estate in center, two of

his three hits on the season are doubles.

Arizona State leads the all-time series against Tennessee by going 7-1 in

eight games thus far.

The Vols only win against the Sun Devils came last year in thrilling fashion

as Chris Burke hit a grand slam in the bottom of the 10th to give UT a 9-5

decision. The next night, ASU scored early and often and pounded Tennessee

15-1.

Rod Delmonico is just seven wins shy of becoming the ninth coach in SEC

history to reach 500 career victories. Spending his entire head coaching

career at Tennessee, Delmonico is in his 13th season as a head coach and

sports a career mark of 493-252. His career winning percentage of .662 ranks

sixth best all-time in the conference. As UT's winningest baseball coach,

Delmonico has now accounted for nearly 33 percent of the school's total

diamond victories.

Jeff Jacoby will provide the play-by-play for all three games. If you want

to follow them on the air, you can listen to WNOX AM 990 and FM 99.1 both

Friday and Saturday. Since the Lady Vols play Sunday afternoon, the last

game at ASU will be on WNOX FM 99.1 only.

To follow along on the internet, go UTSPORTS.com.