No. 1 Tennessee (46-7, 22-5 SEC) travels to Starkville this weekend to take on Mississippi State (26-27, 9-18 SEC) in the final weekend of the regular season before heading to Hoover for next week's SEC Tournament.
The Vols got back on track last weekend with a series win over Georgia. They clinched the SEC regular-season title in the process.
Meanwhile, Mississippi State was swept by Texas A&M in College Station. It was the second weekend in a row State was swept, as Florida swept them in Starkville the weekend prior.
Here's everything you need to know to get ready for this weekend's series between the Vols and Bulldogs.
Where Tennessee is ranked this week:
Perfect Game: No. 1 (-)
USA Today Coaches Poll: No. 1 (-)
D1Baseball: No. 1 (-)
Collegiate Baseball: No. 1 (+1)
NCBWA: No. 1 (+1)
Baseball America: No. 1 (+1)
Schedule (TV)
Thursday, May 19: @ Mississippi State, 7 p.m. ET (SEC Network)
Friday, May 20: @ Mississippi State, 7 p.m. ET (SEC Network+)
Saturday, May 21: @ Mississippi State, 3 p.m. ET (SEC Network+)
Projected weekend rotation
Game 1: So. RHP Chase Dollander (7-0, 2.54 ERA) vs. Sr. RHP Brandon Smith (3-4, 4.99 ERA)
Game 2: Fr. RHP Chase Burns (7-1, 2.34 ERA) vs. Jr. RHP Preston Johnson (3-3, 5.55 ERA)
Game 3: Fr. RHP Drew Beam (8-1, 2.54 ERA) vs. So. RHP Cade Smith (4-3, 3.66 ERA)
Storylines to watch
New-look rotation x 2
Tennessee is rolling out a different rotation for the second weekend in a row. It'll look pretty familiar though.
Sophomore RHP Chase Dollander will start on Thursday night in the series opener for the second consecutive week. Freshman RHP Chase Burns will resume starting on Friday night, though it'll be in game two. Fellow freshman RHP Drew Beam will resume his spot in the series finale on Saturday afternoon.
Dollander started against Georgia last Thursday and pitched six strong innings, while Burns and Beam each worked out of the bullpen for the first time all season. Blade Tidwell and Ben Joyce started in their place.
Dollander and Beam enter the weekend ranked No. 1 and No. 2 in the country in WHIP with respective tallies of 0.76 and 0.80.
Three more games
The final weekend of the regular season has arrived as Tennessee travels to Mississippi State. The Vols are looking to claim its first series victory in Starkville since 2004. They've only won one of the last nine games played at Mississippi State.
Because Tennessee has already won the SEC regular-season title and the SEC East, it knows that it'll be the No. 1 overall seed in next week's SEC Tournament. The Vols' first game in Hoover will be Wednesday at 4:30 p.m. CT against the winner of game No. 3 on Tuesday, which features the 8-seed and 9-seed.
Entering the final weekend of the regular season, Florida is the 8-seed and Ole Miss is the 9-side.
Keys to a series win for the Vols
Control Mississippi state's lineup
Mississippi State's lineup has produced a mixed bag of results this season. It's tallied the second-most hits (269) during conference play and has generated the second-best slugging percentage (.476) as a result of the second-most total bases (470), third-most doubles (46) and fourth-most home runs (49).
On the flip side, however, the Bulldogs have struck out 450 times, fourth-most throughout SEC play. They also are seventh out of 14 teams in RBIs (149), seventh in on-base percentage (.351) and ninth in walks (101).
Mississippi State can hit. It hasn't been the team's reasons for struggles this season. But it does struggle with runners in scoring position from time to time. Tennessee's strong pitching staff will need to keep them in check.
Take advantage of a poor Mississippi State pitching staff
The Bulldogs pitching staff has generated the third-highest ERA (6.88) throughout conference play. It's a result of the fourth-most doubles allowed (47), the fifth-most hit batters (27), the seventh-highest opponent batting average (.268) and the seventh-most hits allowed (251).
Mississippi State's pitching staff can be summed up in three stats. Its allowed more runs (199) and more walks (156) than anybody in the SEC, while its one save is the fewest.
Mississippi State (26-27, 9-18 SEC) Scouting Report:
Series wins: vs. Northern Kentucky; vs. Princeton; vs. Alabama; vs. Auburn; @ Ole Miss
Series losses: vs. Long Beach State; @ Tulane; @ Georgia; @ Arkansas; vs. LSU (swept); @ Missouri; vs. Florida (swept); @ Texas A&M (swept)
Stat Leaders:
Batting Avg: RJ Yeager (.354)
Runs: Hunter Hines (49)
Hits: James/Yeager (62)
Home Runs: RJ Yeager (17)
RBI: RJ Yeager (55)
Stolen Bases: Kamren James (13)
Wins: Smith/Stinnett (4)
Saves: Three players tied (0)
ERA (min. 20 IP): Brooks Auger (3.05)
WHIP (min. 20 IP): Cade Smith (1.33)
Innings Pitched: Smith/Johnson (71.1)
Mississippi State Media Availability
