Tennessee baseball opens up its run at the NCAA Tournament on Friday night when they face off against Miami of Ohio in its first game of the Knoxville Regional.
It’s not an elimination game but making it our of the loser’s bracket and winning a regional is incredibly difficult and rare. That makes it very important for Tennessee to open the NCAA Tournament with a win to advance to the winner’s bracket.
Here’s how to watch the NCAA Tournament matchup, some notes on the Redhawks and more.
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How to Watch: No. 14 Tennessee Baseball (43-16, 16-14 SEC) vs. Miami of Ohio (35-21, 23-7 MAC)
First pitch time: 6 p.m. ET
Announcers: PxP: Mike Monaco, CC: Kyle Peterson
Watch: ESPNU
Liam Doyle Will Start For Tennessee
Tennessee is rolling with its ace Liam Doyle in its NCAA Tournament opener. The SEC Pitcher of the Year enters the NCAA Tournament with a 3.04 ERA, 0.98 WHIP and 142 strikeouts in 83 innings pitched.
He is coming off his two worst outings of the season with Arkansas taxing him for six earned runs in 4.2 innings to close the regular season before Texas scored four earned runs on him in 3.2 innings at the SEC Tournament.
Tennessee head coach Tony Vitello said Doyle tried to “throw two shutouts” against Texas after a bad outing in Fayetteville. The Vols just need him to be himself against Miami (Ohio).
What To Know About Miami of Ohio
Miami’s offense is certainly the strength of its team and it’s an offense that can hit for contact and hit for power. The Redhawks team batting average is .299, a mark that ranks 53rd nationally. Seven Miami starters are hitting over .300 making it a challenging lineup one through seven. They also rank 12th nationally in walks.
The Redhawks are even better hitting for power than they are hitting for contact. They rank 43rd nationally with a .497 slugging percentage and they get the job done in a bunch of different ways. They rank 61st nationally in home runs, 36th nationally in triples and 43rd nationally in doubles.
While the offense is really good one through seven, it has two weak spots in the bottom of the lineup. They have used a couple different guys at the final two spots in the lineup with that group hitting between .115 and .215.
It’s not a great pitching staff, ranking just 171st nationally with a 6.34 team-ERA. They are better in WHIP, posting a 1.50 mark that ranks 84th nationally. Miami has struggled to consistent starting pitchers. Eleven different pitchers have started for Miami with four earning nine-plus starts and six earning four-plus starts.
A Quick Prediction
I already wasn’t very worried about Liam Doyle following his second straight uncharacteristic outing against Texas. With Tennessee using him in game one of the regional, I’m even less worried about him.
Doyle bounces back and the Vols’ offense opens the NCAA Tournament with a strong performance to advance to the winner’s bracket.
Tennessee 9, Miami of Ohio 2
