SL game, UT-Tech booked for AT&T

Chattanooga Lookouts owner Frank Burke is optimistic the most unique doubleheader in AT&T Field history will take place Wednesday.

The Lookouts are scheduled to host the Jacksonville Suns, their predecessors as Southern League affiliates of the Los Angeles Dodgers, at 11:15 a.m. Then Georgia Tech is supposed to face Tennessee at 7 p.m. in the first contest between college programs at AT&T, but the Weather Channel is predicting a 70 percent chance of rain.

“That means there is a 30 percent chance that there isn’t,” Burke said Monday. “If we know something early enough, we’ll contact them, but otherwise we’re going to try and get that game in.”

Tennessee has struggled to a 21-27 record, and its 7-17 Southeastern Conference mark ranks last in the East Division. The Volunteers have two former Baylor School players on their roster: senior pitcher Ryne Simpson and freshman walk-on catcher Andy Shuford.

Georgia Tech is 31-11-1 overall and 14-7-1 in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

“This is good for a lot of reasons,” Vols coach Todd Raleigh said. “No. 1, we take it to Chattanooga, which is a part of our state that’s an important recruiting area for us. We’re playing a high-profile team from Atlanta, and we like to recruit Atlanta. Any time you get a chance to showcase yourself in a venue like we’re going to have down there, I think it’s a great opportunity for the kids and great for recruiting. I just don’t see any negatives.”

Burke said a little more than 1,500 tickets have been sold to the Vols-Jackets game.

“The way the weather has been the last four days, our ticket phones haven’t been ringing even for the Lookouts,” he said. “It’s been a crazy spring weather-wise.”