No. 1 Tennessee looks to get back on track against Georgia
Tennessee traveled to Lexington last weekend and suffered its first series loss of the season.
The Vols pitched well enough to win, and played well enough defensively, but the bats struggled nearly all weekend. Kentucky took advantage and won the first two games to clinch a series win.
UT managed to salvage the series finale, winning 7-2 to avoid being swept.
“I think we ended last weekend — as mysterious and rough and disappointing and anything you want to label it — we ended on a good note,” Tony Vitello following Tennessee’s 11-5 midweek win over Bellarmine on Tuesday night. “And then you’ve got two days separation between now and today. So to me today's a different day. We played a different team, we played in a different park, and there was plenty of things to be positive about today.
“But there's also some things to be frustrated with or to correct in practice tomorrow.”
Tennessee must correct those things rather quickly. It welcomes a Georgia team to town this weekend that it cannot afford to play sloppy baseball against.
The Bulldogs are coming off a series loss to Vanderbilt at home, and although they fell out of the top 25 as a result, they still have plenty of talent that can quickly give them issues.
“They’ve got a lot of older hitters,” Vitello said. “Not as old as me, but better than me as a hitter. And a lot of guys who have tallied up a ton of at-bats. And in our league, it's not predominantly all you see offensively.
“(Georgia’s) pitching is so good, a lot of times it's the stronger, more physical, more mature kids who have a lot of repetitions. And it doesn't have to be an older guy, but those traits apply to older guys a lot. And they have plenty of those.”
Tennessee’s pitching staff against Georgia’s lineup will be the key matchup that is circled.
The Vols enter the series with the best ERA (2.47) in the SEC throughout conference play, while the Bulldogs are second in the league in batting average (.274).
“We have some strong pitching, and they have some strong hitting,” Vitello said. “You could argue, maybe that's the story to write about. But if you flip it, our guys have had thunder in the bats at times, or found other quirky ways to score, but they've got a veteran pitcher (Nolan Crisp), who will most likely start. I mean, no one's announced starters who most likely will go. But then they’ve got a guy (Jonathan Cannon) who could be a first-rounder going, as well. And then last week, their third guy (Liam Sullivan) was a lefty that looks like he could play for (Josh) Heupel, and he's got stuff, to boot.
“So I think you could argue both sides. It's gonna be an interesting battle. And, you know, maybe defense is the difference maker. Who knows? We’ll know the story when it's over.”
Tennessee will feature a new-look pitching rotation against the Bulldogs, the team announced Wednesday afternoon.
Sophomore RHP Chase Dollander will start for the Vols Thursday night in the series opener, while fellow sophomore RHP Blade Tidwell will start game two on Friday evening, respectively.
The Vols did not announce a starter for the series finale on Saturday. Chase Burns or Drew Beam will most likely start game three. Burns has started the series opener all season long, with Beam closing out the weekend by starting the series finale.
First pitch on Thursday is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET on ESPNU.