Tennessee will be playing the final home series of its Southeastern Conference baseball schedule when the No. 23 Volunteers face No. 17 Kentucky on Friday night and again Saturday and Sunday afternoon.
Will it be Tennessee’s final weekend series of the year at Lindsey Nelson Stadium?
The Vols are assured of hosting Belmont University next Tuesday but nothing beyond, as they will close league play next weekend at No. 6 South Carolina before traveling to the SEC tournament in Hoover, Alabama. With that No. 23 standing in the D1 Baseball poll and its No. 24 status in the RPI rankings, Tennessee looks the part of a No. 2 seed right now in one of the 16 four-team regionals in the NCAA tournament that begins in early June.
Tennessee was not only a 1 seed in last year’s 64-team field but the top overall seed for the first time in program history.
“It’s always about the game that’s in front of you,” Tennessee coach Tony Vitello said Thursday afternoon in a news conference. “For us, we want to know who our opponent is, but ultimately and with this team in particular, we’re looking to play our best baseball and to be our best version of ourselves out there.
“This team has had its own theme, and this season has kind of written part of its story to this point.”
Lindsey Nelson Stadium housed six postseason contests for the Vols last year, as they swept Alabama State, Campbell and Georgia Tech in the regional before losing two of three to Notre Dame in the super regional.
Tennessee’s 33-16 overall record this season that includes a 12-12 mark in conference play is bolstered by a 30-4 performance at home. The Vols produced SEC home sweeps of No. 21 Texas A&M, No. 2 Vanderbilt and Mississippi State, and a sweep of Kentucky would be impressive given that the Wildcats are No. 1 in the RPI.
“That obviously carries a lot of weight,” Vitello said.
Kentucky was the only team last season to defeat the Vols twice in SEC action, performing that feat in Lexington, and simply winning this series would be a positive for Tennessee — whether it’s the final weekend series in Lindsey Nelson Stadium or not.
“It could have been easy for there to be fair-weather fans after that loss to Tennessee Tech,” Vitello said, referring to the stunning 12-5 setback on April 18. “Instead, it seems like the fan base has been growing. Usually, the better the weather gets and the better you play, the better the crowds get, but our crowds have just increasingly gotten better and more intense as this season has gone on.
“They’ve helped us right the ship and gain momentum, and I would expect the final weekend to be a little rowdy.”
Leaving the yard
Home runs by Christian Scott, Charlie Taylor, Griffin Merritt and Maui Ahuna during Tuesday night’s 9-4 downing of Austin Peay gave Tennessee 103 homers for the season, which marks the second consecutive year the Vols have surpassed 100 and just the third time ever.
Last season’s Vols established a lofty standard with 158 homers, shattering the 107 set by the 1998 team.
“At the end of the day, the stat you like to have more than anything is a win,” Vitello said. “When you’re able to drive the ball for extra-base hits, whether they’re home runs or just doubles and triples, you put yourself in a good position. Our ballpark has been friendly to us, as have other places.”
Delayed start
Due to a weather delay that affected Wednesday’s action at the SEC softball tournament in Fayetteville, Arkansas, the top-seeded Lady Vols (41-8) had their Thursday night quarterfinal game pushed into Friday morning at 11 Eastern.
Tennessee will play eighth-seeded Florida (36-19), which advanced with a 6-2 triumph Thursday afternoon over ninth-seeded Kentucky (30-20). A win by the Lady Vols would result in them playing again late Friday afternoon in the semifinals.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com.