Tennessee baseball to face Vanderbilt in SEC Tournament

For the fourth time in the last two weeks, Tennessee will play Vanderbilt on Wednesday at the SEC Tournament in Hoover, Alabama.

The 8-seed Commodores beat 9-seed Florida, 6-3 on Tuesday to advance to the double-elimination round and face the Vols 11 days after the two teams last met in Nashville.

The Gators were eliminated.

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Tennessee, which enters the tournament as the 1-seed after winning a share of the SEC title with its win over South Carolina in its regular season finale on Sunday, won two of three games against Vanderbilt (36-20) earlier this month, taking the first two games before dropping the final game of the series at Hawkins Field.

The Vols (46-10) have won nine of the last 10 games against the Commodores, including a 10-1 victory in the 2022 SEC Tournament.

Tennessee and Vanderbilt have played four times since the tournament moved to Hoover in 1998.

First pitch between the Vols and Commodores is slated for 5:30 p.m. ET at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium (TV: SEC Network).

Tennessee enters the postseason off nine-straight SEC series wins and a league title.

The Vols, who have been the consensus No. 1 team in the national polls in the last three weeks, are in line for a top three national seed in the NCAA Tournament next week as they look to make their third trip to the College World Series in the last four years.

Tennessee was bounced from the SEC Tournament in one game a year ago and had to play both regionals and super regionals on the road to get to the CWS. The Vols are guaranteed at least two games in the conference tournament this season.

"I think (this team is built for the postseason) because of experience, seeing what it looks like, but then also knowing what it takes to navigate it," Tennessee head coach Tony Vitello said. "...I think there's an interesting calm about the team when we get into all those one-to-one Sundays, or day three's that we've had. There's an interesting calm about them. Even the one we lost (against Alabama) in Tuscaloosa, even though we've obviously gotten better from there, so some guys have experienced either in junior college with other schools, or here, or even watching it on TV when they were a signee with us.

"So, if you're talking about managing a work load, that's a bigger one to me. Is your excitement, your giddiness and when you celebrate and when do you get upset, and when you cheer for this or that. I think this group has that as a strength."

Tennessee features one of the top hitting teams in the SEC, led by junior infielder Christian Moore, who was recently named First Team All-SEC after accounting for a .429 batting average, 20 home runs and 41 RBIs in league play.

The Vols' pitching rotation is expected to get a boost in the tournament with the return of highly touted right-handed pitcher A.J. Russell who has missed much of the season with an injury.

The SEC Tournament opened Tuesday with 11-seed LSU defeated 6-seed Georgia, 9-1 and 10-seed South Carolina beat 7-seed Alabama, 10-5 in Game 2.

Opening day of the tournament will conclude with 5-seed Mississippi State and 12-seed Ole Miss playing following the conclusion of the Florida-Vanderbilt game.

The tournament resumes Wednesday with the top four seeds playing in Games 5, 6, 7 and 8 in a double-elimination format. All games will air on SEC Network.

Wednesday, May 22

GAME 5: No. 3 Kentucky vs. No. 11 LSU (10:30 a.m.)

GAME 6: No. 2 Arkansas vs. No. 10 South Carolina (TBD)

GAME 7: No. 1 Tennessee vs. No. 8 Vanderbilt (5:30 p.m.)

GAME 8: No. 4 Texas A&M vs. Game 4 winner (TBD)

Thursday, May 23

GAME 9: GAME 5 loser vs. Game 6 loser (10:30 a.m.)

GAME 10: Game 7 loser vs. Game 8 loser (TBD)

GAME 11: Game 5 winner vs. Game 6 winner (5:30 p.m.)

GAME 12: Game 7 winner vs. Game 8 winner (TBD)

Friday, May 24

GAME 13: Game 9 winner vs. Game 11 loser

GAME 14: Game 10 winner vs. Game 12 loser

Saturday, May 25

GAME 15: Game 13 winner vs. Game 11 winner (1 p.m.)

GAME 16: Game 14 winner vs. Game 12 winner (TBD)

Sunday, May 26

SEC TOURNAMENT CHAMPIONSHIP GAME: Game 15 winner vs. Game 16 winner (3 p.m.)

*All times Eastern

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