Last weekend, Tennessee was tasked with turning the season around in a battle with highly-ranked Vanderbilt.

During the three-game stretch, the Vols dominated the Commodores through a walk-off, run-rule and sweep-clinching wins.

Now, with a four-game win streak built due to an additional win over Bellarmine on Tuesday, Tennessee is tasked with staying hot against a struggling Mississippi State squad.

Currently, the Bulldogs sit at a 6-12 SEC record — good for third worst in the conference. This comes off the back of a series loss to Auburn to fall below the Tigers in the standings.

With Mississippi State having a strong turnover from last year, Tony Vitello and Tennessee feel somewhat familiar with the team, though.

At the end of the 2022 regular season, the Vols traveled to Starkville while sweeping the Bulldogs.

“Frank (Anderson) and I were talking back in the locker room, there’s a good handful of hitters that were a part of that group last year," said Vitello. "We finished there so it feels a little more recent, I know that sounds crazy, but it was the last weekend of the year, so it feels a little more recent. You have memory of those five or six guys that are returners in that lineup. I do know that they play a handful of young guys too, though, a good amount. So it’ll be interesting to size up that position group."

Although Mississippi State has struggled as of late, the program is still familiar with success. The Bulldogs won their first National Championship in 2021 and have been solid under coach Chris Lemonis.

However, off the back of last year's sweep and a 2021 win in the SEC Tournament, Tennessee holds a four-game win streak over Mississippi State. This stretch is the longest in the Vols' history over the Bulldogs.

Due to Tennessee's success in the past week, it's in a good position to extend this streak.

With the series taking place in Lindsey Nelson Stadium where the Vols hold a 25-4 record, the advantage is certainly on the side of Tennessee.

The team is also beginning to find its identity as the season winds down.

“I like being at home, I can tell you that," said Vitello. "The thing I’m encouraged by is they’ve kind of started to create some trends. We were talking about that after the game on Sunday, so my confidence lies in the fact that if they kind of continue down the path they are of the team bonding thing or chemistry or environment, everything that goes under that umbrella. Then, I will feel much more confident in the dugout. So that’s kind of where my focus is. Them maintaining the attitude and the energy that they’ve had."

One reason for Tennessee's recently found success is a change to the pitching rotation.

In the past two series, Andrew Lindsey has been given the ball for game one in the place of Chase Dollander. Dollander has then been moved to game two while Drew Beam stayed in the series finale role.

This leaves Chase Burns as the odd man out.

However, Burns has embraced his role in the bullpen. Against Vanderbilt, he appeared on Friday and Sunday to close out games.

His positive play in these situations led to him being named SEC Co-Pitcher of the Week.

While Vitello plans to keep the rotation the same for the weekend, he also is confident in his bullpen's ability to step up if called upon.

"Lindsey, two weeks in a row, could have went longer," said Vitello. "And then (Dollander and Beam), it was nice that they got to 100 pitches, I believe for the first time this year. So you could say on one hand, well they got to 100 pitches, are they good to whatever? One day is not that big of a difference on the short rest... There’s probably a lot of guys that are looking at me saying give me more so I like the fact that all of those guys should be ready and fresh and eager to pitch at home."

For the Vols to find success on the mound, they'll have to silence the bats of Colton Ledbetter, Hunter Hines, Dakota Jordan and Amani Larry who all currently slug for above a .300 average. Hines has also mashed 18 home runs.

However, the Bulldogs have struggled defensively. All three starting pitchers have gotten off to somewhat shaky starts with ERAs of 3.86, 5.58 and 6.65 at this point in the season.

Most notably, Mississippi State boasts ambidextrous pitcher Jurrangelo Cijntje who has turned heads with his rare ability.

As a staff, the Bulldogs own a 6.22 ERA which is the third worst in the SEC. Their fielding percentage of .963 is also the worst in the conference.

First pitch of the series will take place on Thursday at 7 p.m. ET airing on SEC Network.

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