Tennessee Volunteers (31-14) Overall (11-10) SEC
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Georgia Bulldogs (25-20) Overall (8-13) SEC
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ATHENS, Ga. – Looking to keep its eight-game winning streak rolling, the No. 6/18 Tennessee Volunteers take to the road to face Georgia at Foley Field for a three-game weekend series beginning Friday night at 6 p.m. ET.
The Vols (31-14, 11-10 SEC) have been firing on all cylinders as of late, taking the final eight games of the nine-game homestand. Tennessee has been propelled by timely hitting and strong pitching as in each of the last two weeks, a Tennessee pitcher has taken home SEC Pitcher of the Week honors.
Chase Burns made the list first,
earning the recognition on April 24, after two strong bullpen outings in the sweep of No. 2 Vanderbilt. This week, it was
Drew Beam garnering the acclaim after a complete game on Sunday against Mississippi State. Also recognized by the national media was
Christian Scott who
was named SEC Player of the Week by D1Baseball.com's SEC Extra division.
Georgia (25-20, 8-13 SEC) presents a strong road test. The Bulldogs are 16-10 at Foley Field, and their last home weekend series they swept then-No. 5 Arkansas just two weeks ago.
WEEKEND SCHEDULE/PROJECTED STARTING PITCHERS
Game 1 – Friday, May 4 (6 p.m.)
RHP
Andrew Lindsey (0-2, 3.11 ERA) vs. RHP Kolten Smith (2-1, 4.91 ERA)
Game 2 – Saturday, May 5 (2 p.m.)
RHP
Chase Dollander (5-4, 4.24 ERA) vs. LHP Charlie Goldstein (3-1, 4.50 ERA)
Game 3 – Sunday, May 6 (1 p.m.)
RHP
Drew Beam (6-2, 3.13 ERA) vs. TBA
BROADCAST INFO
All three games of the weekend will be streamed live on SEC Network+ with Matt Stewart (PxP) and Jason Jacobs (Analyst) calling the action.
The online broadcast can be accessed on any mobile device through WatchESPN. WatchESPN can be accessed through the ESPN App, or online at
espn.com/watch.
Fans can also listen to the Voice of Tennessee Baseball, John Wilkerson, call the action on the Vol Network (FM 99.1/AM 990) or via a free audio stream on
UTSports.com and the Tennessee Athletics Gameday App.
SERIES
HISTORY
Overall: Tennessee leads, 126-119
in Knoxville: Tennessee leads, 71-50
in Athens: Georgia leads, 69-52
at Neutral Sites: Tennessee leads, 3-0
Last 10 Meetings: Tennessee leads, 7-0
Last Meeting: L, 8-3 (May 14, 2022, in Knoxville)
Tennessee has won two of its last three series against the Bulldogs in Athens.
NOTABLE
POWER SURGE IN KNOCKSVILLE
The Big Orange blasted an SEC best 15 home runs over four games last week and added two more in Tuesday's midweek win over Wofford. Tennessee enters this week ranked tied for fourth nationally and second in the SEC with 95 home runs, averaging over two long balls per game (2.11).
During its current eight-game win streak, UT has hit a staggering 26 dingers with multiple homers in all but one game during that stretch, including five times with three or more bombs.
The Vols are on pace to easily eclipse the 100-home run mark for the second season in a row after blasting 158 last year. UT also hit 98 long balls in 2021 after hitting more than 87 just once in program history prior to that season (107 in 1998). The Vols have homered in 34 of their last 38 games and have gone deep multiple times on 28 occasions this season. The Big Orange posted their 15th and 16th games with three or more homers this season after hitting four dingers in each of the final two games of their series against Mississippi State last weekend.
So far this season, 17 different players have gone deep for the Big Orange. Fourteen of those 17 players have hit multiple homers, led by
Blake Burke (15),
Griffin Merritt (13),
Jared Dickey (10),
Zane Denton (10) and
Christian Moore (10), who all have double-digit bombs.
C. SCOTT IS ON FIRE
One of Tennessee's hottest hitters and a key figure in the team's turnaround over the last two weeks has been super-senior OF
Christian Scott. The Clarksville, Tennessee, native leads the team with a .407 batting average, 12 runs scored, four doubles, 12 RBIs, nine walks and a .556 on-base percentage over the team's last 10 games.
Scott slashed .395/.549/.658, drew 13 walks and drove in 15 runs during the month of April. His .549 on-base percentage led the team and ranked fourth in the entire SEC for the month.
In four games last week, Scott finished atop the SEC in runs scored (8), RBIs (9) and walks (5) while ranking second in batting average (.600). He also recorded at least one hit and scored a run in all four of those games, including a pair of multi-hit performances in wins over Bellarmine on Tuesday and Mississippi State on Saturday.
TWO-OUT MAGIC
During its eight-game win streak, Tennessee has scored 50 of its 96 runs with two outs while hitting at an incredible .390 clip (39-for-100) with two outs during that stretch.
THE BATS ARE RED HOT
Tennessee has been tearing the cover off the ball over the last two weeks, batting .348 as a team with 44 extra-base hits and 26 home runs over its last eight games, posting a perfect 8-0 record in that stretch. Over the win streak, UT is outscoring its opponents 96-30 with 96 hits while slugging .703 as a team.
The Vols have scored double-digit runs in four of their last five SEC games and six of their last seven games overall with three run-rule victories in that span.
UT scored 52 runs over its four wins last week, including outscoring Mississippi State, 33-17, over the weekend. For the week, the Vols led the SEC in batting average (.387), runs (52), hits (55), home runs (15) and walks (33).
OPPONENT SCOUT
Georgia Bulldogs
- 2023 Record: 25-20 (8-13 SEC)
- 2022 Record: 36-23 (15-15 SEC)
- 2022 Postseason: Chapel Hill Regional Semifinals
- 2023 SEC Preseason Poll: 5th Eastern Division
- 2023 SEC Preseason All-SEC
- Second Team: Connor Tate (OF)
- Head Coach: Scott Stricklin (18th season overall, ninth at Georgia)
- Stat Leaders:
- Average: Charlie Condon (.404)
- OBP: Charlie Condon (.507)
- SLG: Charlie Condon (.813)
- Hits: Connor Tate (69)
- Runs: Connor Tate (50)
- RBIs: Charlie Condon (57)
- Doubles: Connor Tate (16)
- Triples: Ben Anderson (3)
- Home Runs: Charlie Condon (19)
- Stolen Bases: Ben Anderson (7)
- ERA: Liam Sullivan (4.73)
- BAA: Jaden Woods (.226)
- Innings Pitched: Liam Sullivan (51.1)
- Strikeouts: Jaden Woods (61)
- Wins: Liam Sullivan (4)
- Saves: Leighton Finley (3)
ON DECK
Tennessee returns to Rocky Top for its final homestand of the 2023 regular season. The Vols take on Austin Peay at 6:30 p.m. ET inside Lindsey Nelson Stadium and the game will stream on SEC Network+.
