No. 23 Tennessee Attempting to Continue Home Dominance vs. No. 17 Kentucky

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Remember that braggadocious Tennessee baseball team that went 57-9 last season?

Well, this season's version of the Volunteers are much different. Coach Tony Vitello's group still has plenty of swagger on the diamond, but the results haven't been nearly as consistent.

Currently 33-16 overall, the Vols are a surprising 12-12 in SEC play. The issues stem from playing away from Lindsey Nelson Stadium, as Tennessee is an eye-popping 2-11 on the road. Those 11 losses include three at the hands of Missouri, three in Fayetteville against Arkansas and most recently two at Georgia last weekend.

Luckily for No. 23 UT, it's hosting the Wildcats at LNS. On Rocky Top, the record is quite the opposite, currently sitting at 30-4. If not for the astounding performances at home, this is a team that would be fighting for making the NCAA Tournament after beginning the season as the No. 2 team in the nation.

The Vols rank top-five in the SEC in batting average (.294), slugging (.555), OBP (.411), runs scored (394) and home runs (103). It makes for another challenge for No. 17 Kentucky's pitching staff, which did well against South Carolina — another power-hitting team — last weekend in Lexington.

There's no one superstar running the show in Knoxville. Outfielder Jared Dickey is slashing .340/.416/.559 to lead the way, while seven others also currently boast a batting average over .300. Five Vols have 10 or more home runs, led by first baseman Blake Burke, who has 15 four-baggers. He, Dickey and 3B Zane Denton all have 40 or more RBIs.

While the hitting has been forceful, pitching has stole a majority of the headlines for UT this season. The combination of Chase Burns and Chase Dollander was touted as the best one-two punch in the nation preseason, but the results haven't totally backed that up.

Burns (4-3, 5.09 ERA) has been moved to the bullpen and didn't pitch last weekend against Georgia. Vitello gave him the "day-to-day" title and his status for this weekend isn't confirmed one way or the other. He has reached a new level pitching as a reliever, owning a 1.54 ERA across 11.2 innings.

Dollander (5-5, 4.26) has 88 strikeouts on the year and only 23 walks. When he's on, he's one of the best pitchers in baseball and will likely hear his name called early in an upcoming MLB draft. He gave up eight hits and three earned in his last start against UGA, striking out six across six innings — an accurate representation of how his season has gone.

As a staff, though, Tennessee still has the best team ERA in the SEC at 3.50. The staff has struck out 547 batters, also the top mark in the conference. Drew Beam (6-3, 3.97) has been rock-solid, allowing just 26 earned runs across 12 starts.

Pitching Probables

FRIDAY - RHP Travis Smith (4-1, 3.62) vs RHP Andrew Lindsey (0-2, 3.11)
SATURDAY - LHP Tyler Bosma (4-3, 5.04) vs RHP Chase Dollander (5-4, 4.24)
SUNDAY - RHP Zack Lee (4-2, 3.54) vs RHP Drew Beam (6-2, 3.13)

The series is an important one for both teams, as neither are locks to be a Regional host once the Field of 64 is revealed. Kentucky also played spoiler in Lexington a season ago, becoming the only team to beat the Vols in a series in the regular season.

UK is riding high coming off its big weekend against the Gamecocks, while the Vols are looking to reap the benefits of its upped play at Lindsey Nelson Stadium. First pitch of game one on Friday, May 12 is set for 6:30 p.m. EST and will air on SEC Network+.

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