No. 7 Tennessee (16-1) opens conference play this weekend with a three-game series against SEC East foe South Carolina. Here's everything you need to know to get ready for this weekend's series between the Vols and Gamecocks.
Where Tennessee baseball is ranked in the polls this week
Collegiate Baseball: No. 2 (+1)
USA Today Coaches Poll: No. 5 (-1)
Perfect Game: No. 5 (+1)
NCBWA: No. 7 (+2)
D1Baseball: No. 7 (+3)
Baseball America: No. 9 (+2)
Schedule (TV)
Friday, March 18: vs. South Carolina, 6:30 p.m. ET (SEC Network+)
Saturday, March 19: vs. South Carolina, 12 p.m. ET (SEC Network)
Sunday, March 20: vs. South Carolina, 1 p.m. ET (SEC Network+)
Projected weekend rotation
Game 1: RHP Chase Burns (3-0, 0.45 ERA) vs. RHP Noah Hall (0-2, 9.42 ERA)
Game 2: RHP Chase Dollander (2-0, 3.79 ERA) vs. RHP Will Sanders (3-0, 2.52 ERA)
Game 3: RHP Drew Beam (3-0, 1.00 ERA) vs. LHP Matthew Becker (1-0, 2.25 ERA)
Storylines to watch
Opening Conference Play at Home
For the first time under Tony Vitello and for the first time since 2017, Tennessee opens SEC play at home. The Vols also opened conference play against South Carolina in that 2017 season.
Tennessee is looking to win its second straight series to start SEC play after winning the opening series at Georgia last season. The Vols are 5-8 in SEC openers at home since 1980 and 32-45 all-time in SEC openers. They will be looking for their first victory in an SEC opener against the Gamecocks (0-2).
Is South Carolina for real?
The Gamecocks got off to a disappointing start to the season. They started the year 7-6 and went on a five-game losing streak to cap the start. It included being swept by arch-rival Clemson and a 15-7 midweek loss to Xavier.
Then South Carolina turned around and took two of three from No. 1 Texas. It lost the series opener 9-5, but swept the Longhorns in a doubleheader on Sunday to take the series.
Injuries have played a roll in Carolina's slow start and we'll find out this weekend if they've turned a corner, or if the win over Texas was a fluke.
SEC Debuts
All three of Tennessee's projected starting pitchers will be making their SEC debut this weekend. Freshman Chase Burns will start on Friday night, while Drew Beam will start on Sunday respectively. Georgia Southern transfer Chase Dollander will get the start on Saturday.
Vitello isn't concerned whatsoever about the trio making their first career start in the SEC.
"There’s not any excitement when you watch them because you know what you’re going to get," Vitello told the media this week. "The excitement comes from the capability of having a strong performance, but there’s not a lot of erratic behavior or unknown type of behavior you get out of those kids. They act like sophomores or really upperclassmen. So all of those three guys are young. Dollander is still fairly new to things around here, it’s his first year around here. We’ll see how it goes, but I don’t expect any surprises behavior wise.”
South Carolina (10-6) Scouting Report:
Best wins: Series win over No. 1 Clemson
Worst losses: swept by Clemson; 15-7 midweek loss to Xavier
Stat Leaders:
Batting Avg: Michael Braswell (.429)
Runs: Michael Braswell (17)
Hits: Michael Braswell (27)
Home Runs: Andrew Eyster/Kevin Madden (3)
RBI: Andrew Eyster (23)Stolen Bases: Braylen Wimmer (5)
Wins: Aidan Hunter/Will Sanders (3)
Saves: Michael Braswell (3)
ERA (min. 1 IP/G): John Gilreath (0.84)
Innings Pitched: Will Sanders (25.0)
Strikeouts: Will Sanders (28)
Tennessee opens SEC play at home for the first time under Tony Vitello
Trey Lipscomb powers Vols to win over Eastern Kentucky
South Carolina Media Availability
