Game Notes, Live Updates, Score: No. 19 Tennessee, Georgia Southern Game Three

The Tennessee BaseVols will take on Georgia Southern at 1 p.m. ET for game three of the opening weekend series. The Vols won the first meeting 9-0 and the second 10-3.

There are six major preseason polls: D1Baseball.com, Perfect Game, USA Today coaches' poll, National College Baseball Writers' Association, Collegiate Baseball Magazine, and Baseball America.

Below are the Vols' preseason ranking in every poll.

D1Baseball: No. 19

Perfect Game: No. 21

USA Today Coaches: No. 16

NCBWA: No. 16

CBM: No. 34

Baseball America: No. 17

The official Top-25 D1Baseball.com rankings will be the reference for each team's ranking this season.

Preseason News:

Above is head coach Tony Vitello's most recent press conference following game two.

Returning starters for the Vols are Luc Lipcius, Drew Gilbert, Jordan Beck and Evan Russell, although Russell will primarily serve as a catcher this season for Tennessee.

Beck and Gilbert figure to stay in the outfield this season, and Luc Lipcius will resume his role as the team's starting first baseman.

Gilbert, the team's source of energy and passion, came up huge for the Vols on multiple occasions last season, including a walk-off grand slam against Wright State in the NCAA Regional Tournament in Lindsey-Nelson Stadium.

As for Beck, head coach Tony Vitello had high praise for the returning junior in the preseason.

"Jordan came back from Christmas break swinging the bat the best I've ever seen him in January practice. The key for him is to not experiment and think to much, to realize that it's going well for him and do it day in and day out like a big leaguer would do, which he will be one day. That I am confident in."

The Vols' pitching rotation sustained its fair share of injuries, as sophomore Blade Tidwell and redshirt junior Seth Halvorsen will be sidelined indefinitely, with more optimism surrounding Tidwell's availability for conference play. Tidwell is currently dealing with shoulder stiffness and soreness.

Against Georgia Southern, freshman Chase Burns is set to start on opening day against the Eagles. For game two, sophomore RHP Chase Dollander will start against his former team, as he transferred to Tennessee from Georgia Southern in the offseason.

Below is the entire list of the Vols' starters for game three against Georgia Southern.

Sunday Starters ⬇️

First pitch in one hour.#GBO // #OTH // #BeatGS pic.twitter.com/YBN9yKvgWQ
— Tennessee Baseball (@Vol_Baseball) February 20, 2022

Changes from yesterday:

-Seth Stephenson starts at LF over Christian Scott and leads off. Logan Chambers started at LF on Friday.

-Logan Chambers to serve as the DH instead of Kyle Booker. Seth Stephenson was the DH on Friday.

-Freshman RHP Drew Beam gets the starting nod at pitcher for game three. He marks the third straight Vol to log his first career start this weekend.

LIVE UPDATES & ANALYSIS

First pitch for Tennessee vs. Georgia Southern game two is at 1:00 p.m. ET in Lindsey-Nelson Stadium. SECN+ has the broadcast. This section will be continuously updated as the game progresses.

Matt Schaefer, President and CEO of East Tennessee Children's Hospital, throws the first pitch in Lindsey Nelson Stadium

1st Inning:

-Jesse Sherrill pops out on a full count.

-Parker Biederer strikes out. It's Drew Beam's first career K in a Vols uniform. Eagles have two outs.

-Christian Avant pops up. It's Beam's first three up, three down inning. Seth Stephenson will take the plate to lead off for Tennessee.

-Jesse Sherrill cannot make the catch at second and Seth Stephenson makes his first hit of the afternoon a double. Luc Lipcius up to bat.

_Luc Lipcius is walked.

-Jordan Beck singles to left field for an RBI. Seth Stephenson struts home and the Vols lead 1-0. Lipcius advances to second.

-Drew Gilbert pops out in the infield.

-Trey Lipscomb grounds out into a double play as Luc Lipcius gets tagged. Georgia Southern's infield play has been the highlight of the weekend for the Eagles.

One left on base for Tennessee.

Vols 1, Georgia Southern 0

2nd Inning:

-Will Patota is walked. The first Eagle on base today.

-Noah Ledford fouls out to 1B.

-Sean White pops up to SS.

-Austin Thompson is walked.

-Jarrett Brown flies out to right field. Two left on base for the Eagles and the Vols will take over.

Jorel Ortega to lead off.

-Jorel Ortega flies out.

-Logan Chambers flies out.

-Cortland Lawson grounds out.

It's a 1-2-3 inning for Georgia Southern to end the second inning.

Vols 1, Georgia Southern 0

3rd Inning:

-Kyler Hultgren grounds out

-Jesse Sherrill takes the plate. He grounds out.

-Parker Biederer drills a shot to right field. The Eagle center fielder displays impressive speed and turns into a triple.

-Christian Avant is walked. Beam's third BB.

-Will Patota grounds out and Tennessee escapes without letting an Eagle make it home.

-Charlie Taylor is up to the plate for the first time this season.

-Seth Stephenson hit by pitch. It's B2B hit by pitches for UT courtesy Eagles pitcher Ben Johnson. Stephenson was on a full count.

**Georgia Southern makes a pitching change. Jay Thompson will take over the mound for Ben Johnson.

-Luc Lipcius up to the plate. He infield flies out. One out for Tennessee and Jordan Beck takes the plate.

-Beck sends a shot over second base into right center. Ethan Payne, who pinch ran for Charlie Taylor, gets home. Seth Stephenson advances to third.

-Drew Gilbert sac flies out to center, and Seth Stephenson reaches home. Jordan Beck advances to second. Vols rolling.

-Trey Lipscomb grounds out after Beck stole third. Vols end the frame with one on base, but scored two runs.

Vols 3, Georgia Southern 0

4th Inning:

**Vols pitching change. Camden Sewell takes over for Drew Beam.

**Vols catching change. Evan Russell takes over for Charlie Taylor.

FINAL DREW BEAM STATS:

FINAL Drew Beam stats in his first career start as a Vol:
3 IP, 1 Hit, 3 BB, 1 K, 13 BF, 37 strikes on 60 total pitches. #Vols
— Jack Foster (@jackfostermedia) February 20, 2022

-Noah Ledford singles to left field

-Sean White grounds into a double play to short stop

-Austin Thompson grounds out to 2B

Terrific inning for the Volunteer infield. Camden Sewell only threw 11 pitches.

Jorel Ortega to lead off for Tennessee.

-Jorel Ortega grounds out to short stop.

-Logan Chambers (DH) strikes out swinging.

-Cortland Lawson is walked.

-Evan Russell RBI doubles to the right center wall as the Eagle cannot make the grab. Cortland Lawson makes it home from first base off the Russell hit.

-Seth Stephenson hits a similar RBI shot to right center to bring Evan Russell home, but the junior is out at third base. Vols end the inning having scored two runs off of two RBIs with none left on base.

All Tennessee heading into the fifth.

Vols 5, Georgia Southern 0

5th Inning:

-Jarrett Brown flies out

-Kyler Hultgren is walked

-Jesse Sherrill rips one to short stop. Great play from Cortland Lawson results in an Eagle out at second base. Sherrill is on at first. Two outs for Georgia Southern.

-Parker Biederer grounds out to first as Sewell tags the bag. The Eagles leave one on base and remain scoreless.

Vols lead 5-0 and Luc Lipcius will take the plate to start the bottom of the fifth.

-Luc Lipcius singles to center field.

-Jordan Beck up to the plate. Luc Lipcius steals second.

-Beck is walked. Pitch gets away from the catcher and Lipcius takes third.

-Gilbert hits an over the wall double to bring Lipcius home. Beck advances to third. Runners are second and third for the Vols. Tennessee leads 6-0.

-Trey Lipscomb up to bat.

-Lipscomb hits a 2 RBI single to get Beck and Gilbert home. Vols lead 8-0.

-Jorel Ortega beams an RBI triple to center field to bring Trey Lipscomb home. Tennessee leads 9-0 with a runner on third and no outs.

-Logan Chambers hits an RBI fly out to right. The Vols have only one out and have scored five runs in the bottom of the fifth to blow it open. Tennessee well on their way to the first series sweep of the season.

-Evan Russell pops out

-Kyle Booker pinch hits for Seth Stephenson and grounds out to end the inning.

The five-run for the Vols comes to an end.

Vols 10, Georgia Southern 0

6th Inning:

**Kyle Booker takes over at left field

**Kirby Connell takes over on the mound for Camden Sewell

-Christian Avant grounds out

-Will Patota strikes out swinging.

**Evan Russell gets hit in worst possible area and is down behind the plate. The Lexington native gets up and catches the rest of Ledford's AB after a moment of rest.

-Noah Ledford strikes out swinging.

Three up, three down for Connell.

-Seth Steenstra pinch hits for Luc Lipcius. He grounds out.

-Jordan Beck doubles to right field.

-Drew Gilbert grounds out as pitcher makes the throw to first.

-Trey Lipscomb grounds out. One left on base for Tennessee.

Vols 10, Georgia Southern 0

7th Inning:

-Noah Searcy pinch hits and strikes out swinging.

-Austin Thompson grounds out too second base.

**Ben Joyce replaces Kirby Connell on the mound

-Jarrett Brown grounds out to catcher unassisted.

Ben Joyce threw 100 mph on hist first pitch

-Blake Burke is walked. He pinch hit for Jorel Ortega.

-Hunter Ensley to pinch hit for Logan Chambers.

-Ensley smacks a double to the right field line. Cortland Lawson takes the plate with runners at second and third.

-Cortland Lawson singles to left field for an RBI as Blake Burke scores. Ensley advances to third.

-Jared Dickey pinch hit for Evan Russell and flied out to left field for a single RBI to bring Ensley home.

-Kyle Booker hits a single RBI double to bring Cortland Lawson home. The Vols have scored three runs in the inning.

**Ga'Von Wray to pitch for Georgia Southern, taking over for Jake Martin.

-Tennessee has one out and Seth Steenstra will pinch hit for Luc Lipcius.

-Steenstra strikes out swinging.

-Christian Moore pinch hits for Jordan Beck. He is walked.

-Christian Scott pinch hits for Drew Gilbert, flies out to center. Three outs.

Vols 13, Georgia Southern 0

8th Inning:

-Three up, three down for Will Mabrey as he takes over the mound for Ben Joyce. He struck out the third batter (Biederer).

-Trey Lipscomb pops up

-Blake Burke singles to pitcher

-Hunter Ensley (DH) pops up to third

-Tennessee scores on Jared Dickey RBI single. Burke reaches home.

-Jared Dickey picked off to end the inning.

Vols 14, Georgia Southern 0

9th Inning:

**Jake Fitzgibbons to pitch for Will Mabrey

-Christian Avant pops up to second

-Blancato grounds out

-Dowdell walked

-Searcy single. Dowdell to second

-Jenkins pops up. THREE outs and a TENNESSEE SWEEP.

FINAL: VOLS 14, Georgia Southern 0

The Vols complete the series sweep with a 14-0 shutout win. Tennessee outscored the Eagles 33-3 on opening weekend.

Can't get much better than that for Tony Vitello's squad to kick off the 2022 season.

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