OXFORD, Miss. – It’ll be a battle of top-five teams as No. 1/5 Tennessee heads to Oxford to take on No. 1/1 Ole Miss this weekend at Swayze Field.
The Vols are riding a 12-game winning streak entering this weekend’s highly anticipated series featuring two of the nation’s top teams after a 13-3 trouncing of Butler on Tuesday night.
BROADCAST INFO
Friday and Sunday’s games will be streamed live on SEC Network+ and the ESPN app with Gary Darby (PxP) and Keith Kessinger (analyst) calling the action. Saturday’s game will be broadcast on the SEC Network with Tom Hart (PxP) and Kyle Peterson (analyst) on the call.
The online broadcasts 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 games on the Vol Radio Network (FM 99.1/AM 990) as well as UTSports.com and the Tennessee Athletics App.
WEEKEND SCHEDULE/PROJECTED STARTING PITCHERS
Game 1 – Friday, March 25 (7:30 p.m. ET)
RHP Chase Burns (4-0, 0.68 ERA) vs. LHP Josh Gaddis (2-0, 2.78 ERA)
Game 2 – Saturday, March 26 (8 p.m. ET)
RHP Chase Dollander (3-0, 3.38 ERA) vs. RHP Jack Dougherty (1-0, 4.26 ERA)
Game 3 – Sunday, March 27 (2:30 p.m. ET)
RHP Drew Beam (4-0, 1.09 ERA) vs. RHP Derek Diamond (3-1, 5.32 ERA)
SERIES HISTORY
Overall: Ole Miss leads, 48-39-1
In Knoxville: Ole Miss leads, 20-18
In Oxford: Ole Miss leads, 25-20-1
Neutral Sites: Ole Miss leads, 3-1
Last Meeting: L, 5-4 (May 18, 2019)
The Vols and Rebels will meet for the first time since 2019 this weekend. Tennessee won the last series between the two teams, taking two of three games from Ole Miss in Knoxville during the final regular-season series of the 2019 season. The last time the two sides squared off in Oxford was in March of 2018, Tony Vitello‘s debut season at UT. The Vols upset the Rebels in the series opener, 8-6, before dropping the final two games of the weekend.
NOTABLE
Top-Ranked Teams Set for Battle
Tennessee rose to No. 1 in this week’s Perfect Game rankings, marking its first No.1 ranking by any poll in program history. The Vols also moved up to No. 3 in the NCBWA Top 30 poll, No. 5 in the D1Baseball.com rankings and No. 7 in Baseball America’s poll while staying at No. 2 in the Collegiate Baseball News rankings and No. 5 in the USA Today Coaches Poll.
Ole Miss enters this weekend’s series ranked No. 1 by D1Baseball.com and Baseball America, setting up a showdown between top-ranked teams.
Vols vs. Ranked Foes
Tennessee will face its second ranked opponent this season when they take on the Rebels this weekend. The only other ranked foe the Vols have faced so far this season was then No. 1 Texas on March 4 in Houston. UT has had a great deal of success against ranked teams under Tony Vitello, posting 33 wins over such opponents since he took over as head coach in 2018. In that time, 14 of those victories have come against teams ranked in the top 10, including three wins over top-ranked teams (Arkansas in 2021, Texas Tech in 2020 and Florida in 2018).
UT went 15-10 against ranked teams last season, and after winning series against No. 14 LSU (Super Regionals), No. 15 South Carolina, No. 9 Florida, No. 14 LSU (sweep) and No. 7 Georgia in 2021, the Vols have won nine series over ranked opponents since 2018.
Big Boy Bats
This weekend’s series will pit two of the country’s top offensive teams against one another. Entering the series, both Tennessee and Ole Miss rank among the top 25 nationally in scoring, batting average, home runs, slugging percentage and on-base percentage.
Lockdown on the Mound
While UT has been raking at the plate, the pitching staff has been equally as impressive this season. The Vols combined to throw two one-hitters last week – Tuesday vs. EKU and Sunday vs. South Carolina. Sunday’s one-hit shutout over the Gamecocks was Tennessee’s first one-hitter against an SEC opponent since March 18, 2005 in a 2-1 victory at Auburn.
With Sunday’s shutout, the Vols moved into a tie for first nationally with five this season. Tennessee also leads the nation in ERA (1.93), WHIP (0.90) and hits allowed per nine innings (5.44).
Freshmen Phenoms
Tennessee’s freshman class has been outstanding so far this season with a handful of major contributors on the mound and at the plate.
The Vols’ true freshman pitching duo of Chase Burns and Drew Beam were lights out once again last weekend. Burns struck out nine and allowed just one run on two hits over 6.2 innings to earn the win in his SEC debut on Friday night. Beam – who was named the SEC Co-Freshman of the Week on Monday – followed with an even better performance in Sunday’s series finale, tossing a career-high 7.2 shutout innings while allowing just one hit. Beam took a perfect game into the seventh inning before allowing a leadoff double. That double was the only baserunner that he allowed on the day as he struck out three and earned the win to improve to 4-0 on the year. For the season, Burns and Beam have combined to go 8-0 with a 0.88 ERA, 53 strikeouts and just 15 walks.
Fellow freshman Christian Moore continued his string of impressive performances at the plate, leading the team with a .500 batting average last week while blasting two more home runs. Moore ranks second on the team and tied for sixth in the SEC with seven homers this season despite having just 33 official at-bats.
OPPONENT SCOUT
Ole Miss Rebels
- Record: 16-4 (2-1 SEC)
- 2021 Postseason: NCAA Tucson Super Regional (1-2)
- 2022 SEC Preseason Poll: T-2nd in West
- Head Coach: Mike Bianco (22nd Season)
- Preseason All-SEC Honors:
- SS Jacob Gonzalez (1st team)
- C Hayden Dunhurst (2nd team)
- 1B Tim Elko (2nd team)
- 2B Peyton Chatagnier (2nd team)
- OF Kevin Graham (2nd team)
- Stat Leaders:
- Batting Avg: Bench/McCants (.357)
- Runs: Jacob Gonzalez (28)
- Hits: Justin Bench (25)
- Home Runs: Tim Elko (8)
- RBI: Tim Elko (30)
- Stolen Bases: TJ McCants (6)
- Wins: Derek Diamond (3)
- Saves: Brandon Johnson (3)
- ERA (min. 10 IP): Hunter Elliott (2.45)
- WHIP (min. 10 IP): Hunter Elliott (1.09)
- Innings Pitched: John Gaddis (22.2)
- Strikeouts: John Gaddis (25)
ON DECK
Tennessee returns to Knoxville for a midweek matchup against Western Carolina on Tuesday, March 30 at 6:30 p.m. before heading back on the road for another challenging series at #1/4 Vanderbilt from April 1-3 in Nashville.