ForumsBIRMINGHAM, Ala. — As part of an unprecedented agreement between ESPN and the Southeastern Conference, the University of Tennessee baseball team has been selected as one of two squads to be featured twice on ESPNU’s groundbreaking Thursday Night SEC Baseball Game of the Week during the 2011 season.
The Volunteers will kick off the inaugural seven-week series, a first for the sport, when they host defending NCAA National Champion South Carolina at 7:30 p.m. on April 7 at Lindsey Nelson Stadium. UT will then take part in the event the next week as well when it travels to Tuscaloosa, Ala., to square off with Alabama on April 14. Both contests will be televised nationally on ESPNU which is now available in 73 million homes. Ole Miss is the only other team set to be featured twice.
“ESPNU is thrilled to feature a seven-week SEC Thursday night baseball series,” said Rosalyn Durant, Vice President, ESPNU. “Showcasing the vast talent of SEC baseball is great for the sport, fans, league and ESPNU. We appreciate the partnership with the SEC in creating this consistent Thursday night national package.”
SEC weekend baseball series typically run Friday through Sunday but will be played Thursday through Saturday for the selected three-game sets that will be part of ESPNU’s Thursday Night SEC Baseball Game of the Week.
“The Thursday night package of SEC games on ESPNU is a great opportunity for us to showcase the outstanding baseball that is played in our conference,” said SEC Commissioner Mike Slive. “The ESPNU package will be able to draw attention to the outstanding game-day atmosphere we have at our baseball stadiums as well as the rich tradition and history of SEC baseball.”
SEC baseball is coming off a successful season that saw South Carolina win the 2010 National Championship Series, Florida advanced to the College World Series and eight SEC teams overall earn NCAA postseason bids. It marked the sixth time since 2000 and the third consecutive year an SEC team played for the national title.
Additional SEC baseball games will be aired on the ESPN family of networks as well as other networks and will be announced at a later date. No other games will be moved to Thursday other than the games listed below.
ESPNU SEC Thursday Night Baseball Schedule
April 7 @ 7:30 p.m. South Carolina at Tennessee
April 14 @ 7:30 p.m. Tennessee at Alabama
April 21 @ 7:30 p.m. Ole Miss at Auburn
April 28 @ 7:30 p.m. Kentucky at LSU
May 5 @ 7:30 p.m. Florida at Arkansas
May 12 @ 7:30 p.m. Mississippi State at Ole Miss
May 19 @ 7:30 p.m. Vanderbilt at Georgia
* Schedule subject to change and all times are local
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