Tennessee baseball is back in action this weekend as they host the defending national champion LSU Tigers in a three-game series at Lindsey Nelson Stadium. Two of the nation’s best programs have struggled early in SEC play and are looking for a series victory this weekend.
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 (19-10, 3-6 SEC) vs LSU (20-10, 4-5 SEC)
Game one: 5:30 p.m. ET on Friday, April 3
Announcers — PxP: Mike Monaco. Analyst: Chris Burke, Analyst: Kyle Peterson
Watch: SEC Network
Game two: 6 p.m. ET on Saturday, April 4
Announcers — PxP: Mike Monaco. Analyst: Chris Burke, Analyst: Kyle Peterson
Watch: ESPN2
Game three: 1 p.m. ET on Sunday, April 5
Announcers — PxP: Andy Brock. Analyst: Redmond Walsh
Stream: SEC Network+
Tennessee Is Again Mixing Up Its Weekend Rotation
After rolling with the exact same pitching rotation for the first six weekends of the season, Tennessee is mixing up its weekend rotation for a second straight series.
Last weekend, Josh Elander pulled Tegan Kuhns from the weekend rotation and instead inserted left-handed pitcher Brandon Arvidson as Tennessee’s Friday night starter.
But Kuhns is back in the weekend rotation after finding his footing in the bullpen against the Commodores, but this time as the Saturday starter. Mack, who’s posted a 3-2 record and 3.89 ERA this season, is moving into the Friday night starting spot for the first time this season. It’s the same move he made last season at Rutgers, moving from the Saturday to Friday spot midway through the season.
Complete Pitching Matchups
Friday:
Vols RHP Landon Mack (3-2, 3.89 ERA, 1.54 WHIP, 37 IP, 48 K, 16 BB) vs. Tigers RHP Casan Evans (2-1, 5.00 ERA, 1.25 WHIP, 36 IP, 53 K, 19 BB)
Saturday:
Vols RHP Tega Kuhns (1-4, 4.08 ERA, 1.13 WHIP, 35.1 IP, 46 K, 6 BB) vs. Tigers RHP William Schmidt (4-1, 2.55 ERA, 1.14 WHIP, 35.1 IP, 49 K, 11 BB)
Sunday:
Vols LHP Evan Blanco (2-2, 4.00 ERA, 1.19 WHIP, 36 IP, 46 K, 16 BB) vs. Tigers RHP Gavin Guidry (3-3, 6.64 ERA, 1.34 WHIP, 20.1 IP, 32 K, 12 BB)
LSU Is Also Off To A Rocky Start
LSU started the season 8-0 but things have gotten shaky since. The Tigers went 4-5 in their final nine games before the start of SEC play including a series loss against Sacramento State.
SEC play started in similarly poor fashion with Vanderbilt winning two of three games over LSU in Nashville. The Tigers then went on the road and dropped two out of three games at Oklahoma.
LSU seemed to steady the ship last week, winning the final two games of its series against Kentucky after dropping the opener. The Tigers enter the weekend 4-5 in SEC play and are looking to continue their momentum from last weekend while Tennessee looks to regroup after a brutal weekend at Vanderbilt.
A Quick Prediction
This series doesn’t have as much juice as it did before the season, but it is weirdly more important for both teams because of their early struggles. Tennessee keeps putting themselves in close games but struggling to close them out.
The Vols get good pitching this weekend and feed off a rowdy Lindsey Nelson Stadium crowd for a much needed series victory.
Tennessee Wins Two Of Three
