Tennessee baseball is coming off its best weekend of the season as the Vols swept then-No. 9 Mississippi State in Starkville. The Vols never trailed in the three-game series and put together their best weekend of the season to date.
Despite its best weekend of the season to date, Tennessee remains unranked in all five major rankings. The Vols received votes in the the USA Today Coaches Poll and the NCBWA poll. D1Baseball, Baseball America and Perfect Game are not polls so they only rank the top 25 teams.
The Vols entered last weekend 4-8 in SEC play after consecutive brutal series against Vanderbilt and LSU where Tennessee lost five tight games, three in extra innings and three while blowing late game leads. Of Tennessee’s eight SEC losses, seven either came in extra innings or were decided by two or less runs.
More From RTI: Four Takeaways From Tennessee Baseball Sweeping Mississippi State
But Tennessee got right in Starkville, sweeping ninth-ranked Mississippi State to improve to 7-8 in SEC play. The Vols had stout pitching all weekend, holding the Bulldogs to just three runs over the course of the weekend.
Tennessee has struggled to play strong situational baseball this season but got the job done with just that in Starkville. The Vols stranded just two runners on base in game three of the series. Trent Grindlinger, Garrett Wright, Manny Marin and Reese Chapman all had fantastic weekends at the plate.
Now at 7-8 in SEC play, Tennessee is part of a log jam in the SEC standings. Nine of 16 SEC teams are either 8-7 or 7-8 at the halfway point of the conference slate. The Vols need to win at least 13 games to clinch a NCAA Tournament spot while 15-plus wins would get Tennessee in the hosting conversation.
Tennessee is back in action this weekend when they host Ole Miss in a three-game series at Lindsey Nelson Stadium. The Rebels enter the weekend with an 8-7 SEC record and one game ahead of Tennessee in the SEC standings.
