Tennessee baseball is back in action this weekend as they host No. 25 Ole Miss in a three-game series at Lindsey Nelson Stadium. Both the Vols and Rebels are coming off series sweeps with Tennessee taking care of Mississippi State and Ole Miss taking care of LSU.
Here’s how to watch the three games and more details on the SEC weekend series in Knoxville.
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How To Watch: Tennessee baseball (25-12, 7-8 SEC) vs. No. 25 Ole Miss (26-7, 7-5 SEC)
Game one: 6:30 p.m. ET on Friday, April 17
Announcers — PxP: Myan Patel, CC: Cody Hawn
Watch: SEC Network+
Game two: 4 p.m. ET on Saturday, April 11
Announcers — PxP: Myan Patel, CC: Cody Hawn
Watch: SEC Network+
Game three: 1 p.m. ET on Sunday, April 12
Announcers — PxP: Myan Patel, CC: Cody Hawn
Watch: SEC Network+
Pitching Matchups
Friday:
Vols RHP Landon Mack (3-2, 3.75 ERA, 1.40 WHIP, 48 IP, 64 K, 17 BB) vs. Rebels LHP Hunter Elliott (3-1, 3.69 ERA, 1.38 WHIP, 46.1 IP, 68 K, 27 BB)
Saturday:
Vols RHP Tegan Kuhns (2-3, 3.77 ERA, 1.13 WHIP, 45.1 IP, 54 K, 9 BB) vs. Rebels RHP Cade Townsend (3-1, 2.02 ERA, 0.98 WHIP, 35.2 IP, 54 K, 8 BB)
Sunday:
Vols LHP Evan Blanco (3-2, 3.67 ERA, 1.10 WHIP, 49 IP, 58 K, 18 BB) vs. Rebels RHP Taylor Rabe (3-1, 3.16 ERA, 0.93 WHIP, 31.1 IP, 37 K, 5 BB)
Ole Miss Is A Part Of A Log Jam In The SEC Standings
Entering the sixth weekend of SEC play, there are nine teams with either a 7-8 or 8-7 record in conference play. Ole Miss is 8-7 entering this weekend while Tennessee is 7-8. The result of this weekend could have major implications down the stretch.
SEC play has been up-and-down for the Rebels. They opened conference play with a series loss against Texas before taking two of three against Kentucky. Mississippi State swept Ole Miss in Starkville but since then, the Rebels have won five of six.
Ole Miss took two of three games against Florida in Gainesville before sweeping LSU at home last weekend.
Stone Lawless Could Return To The Field This Weekend
It was just under three weeks ago when Stone Lawless was hit-by a pitch in the face against Vanderbilt. He’s missed the last two weeks due to the injury but is available for the Vols last weekend.
Lawless took batting practice Thursday and is available for Tennessee off the bench. He won’t start any of the three games but could come off the bench as a pinch hitter. Expect Lawless to wear a batting helmet with a mask on it.
When Lawless is fully back in the fold, it will be interesting to see how Josh Elander handles the lineup with Garrett Wright and Levi Clark hitting well and Trent Grindlinger grabbing the reigns of the designated hitter job.
Prediction
Both teams are playing well entering this series. Ole Miss has seemingly found some things out about its weekend starting pitching staff.
Tennessee’s starting pitching has been solid all season and its top two bullpen pitchers have been strong as well. The Vols bullpen depth is the major question. There were some better signs last weekend but that remains a major question.
But the big thing for Tennessee was the success of its offense last weekend at Mississippi State. I’m curious to see if they can put another strong weekend together.
Tennessee wins two out of three games
