No. 1 Tennessee Baseball vs. No. 24 South Carolina: How To Watch, Pitching Matchups, Prediction

• 1 p.m. ET
• Stream: SEC Network+
• PxP: Andy Brock, CC: Cody Hawn

What Tennessee HC Tony Vitello Said About South Carolina

On what South Carolina does well

“I don’t know how they did last weekend, but as far as when you kind of run into them and looking at opponents or stuff comes up – I know their bullpen has guys with really good stuff. Shocker, in our league. That’s kind of a theme. We will start to pick those guys apart a little bit as far as preparing or at least take a look at them. And then offensively there’s just a lot of experience in there and there’s balance too between left and right-handed hitters. A couple of guys who went from Vanderbilt to there. A couple of guys who have been there a while.  A couple of guys who played last year who were young. By age, you’re never going to be too old in this league – especially if you’re a sophomore – but when you rack up a bunch of at-bats and kind of see what it all looks like, and now we’re at the end of the second season, now you are kind of an older guy who has experience.”

On how important it is to finish the regular season the right way this weekend against South Carolina

“Everybody says you want to get hot at the right time, but some of the teams that have been labeled hot, it didn’t go so well at the end or in Hoover. So, I think each time we put on the uniform, we just want to compete and do well. And then you do want to look for reasons — kind of the Michael Jordan thing — you’re always searching for motivation. This is our place we come to work everyday, we love playing here. Now that the weather is warm, the crowds have been getting better and better. There’s a lot of things wrapped into why you should appreciate the opportunity on Thursday night. You could even throw into that piggy bank, yeah, tonight was a bounce-back win after Sunday (at Vanderbilt), but it was a non-conference game. Thursday is an opportunity to get back out there after a conference game, whereas the last one was very frustrating. So, I think the easiest and best thing to do, for staff and players, is hone it into Thursday. School is out as of Thursday. There’s another one for you. There’s a lot of reasons to come to the park with some energy, be grateful and compete your butt off. And you’re doing all those things because you do want to win that game. Then after that game is over, we’ll assess what’s going on with day two which is Friday this weekend.”

Projected Pitching Matchups

Game One: LHP Chris Stamos (5 GS, 3-0, 3.33 ERA, 24.1 IP, 27 K, 12 BB, 1.11 WHIP) vs. RHP Ty Good (2 GS, 5-1, 3.21 ERA, 47.2 IP, 63 K, 21 BB, 1.11 WHIP)

Game Two: RHP Drew Beam (13 GS, 7-2, 3.75 ERA, 74.1 IP, 67 K, 17 BB, 1.30 WHIP) vs. TBD

Game Three: LHP Zander Sechrist (13 GS, 1-1, 4.75 ERA, 43.1 IP, 48 K, 10 BB, 1.32 WHIP) vs. TBD

Bats To Know

Tennessee:

1B Blake Burke — .368/.429/.706, 15 HR, 38 EBH, 44 RBI, 21 BB, 35 K

2B Christian Moore — .377/.443/.778, 24 HR, 37 EBH, 57 RBI, 23 BB, 37 K

Prediction

Tennessee has been stout at home this season and particularly in SEC play where they boast a 10-2 record. The Vols are playing well and enter the weekend with eight straight series victory.

On the other side, South Carolina is struggling entering this weekend after Georgia swept them in Columbia last weekend.

I’ll be keeping my eye on Tennessee’s pitching this weekend. Frank Anderson’s group has been stout the last month but this is the best offense they’ve faced since early in SEC play.

I think Tennessee’s pitching meets the moment and the Vols keep the pressure on Kentucky in the SEC Championship race.

Tennessee sweeps South Carolina