No. 1 Tennessee vs. No. 24 Alabama: How to Watch, What to Watch Out For, Staff Predictions

The No. 1 Tennessee BaseVols will begin their home series with No. 24 Alabama on Friday at 6:30 p.m. ET. SEC Network + has the stream for all three games.

Tennessee enters the weekend a bit different than usual, as the Vols suffered a 3-2 midweek loss to Tennessee Tech on Tuesday in Smokies Stadium, ending their 23-game winning streak.

However, the Vols' SEC winning streak remains alive heading into Friday, as UT is a perfect 12-0 to begin conference play, the best start to SEC by any team in history.

On the line for Tennessee against Alabama is a program record number of series sweeps in a season is also on the line for Tennessee, as the Vols tied with the school season record of seven sweeps last weekend. UT has swept every true weekend series opponent this season.

Alabama enters the weekend as one of the hottest teams in the conference with a 22-12 (7-5 SEC) record in second place in the SEC West, one-half a game ahead of LSU, Auburn and Texas A&M (All three played Thursday).

The Tide recently swept Ole Miss in Oxford 7-4, 12-10 and 7-3 and come into Friday with a seven-game winning streak.

With Alabama looking to continue their hot streak and the Vols looking to stay perfect against SEC opponents, let's look at what to watch for this weekend in Knoxville.

Alabama Pitching

When asked what he's seen from the red-hot Tide, Tennessee head coach Tony Vitello noted pitching as the area Brad Bohannon's squad excels in.

"Really good pitching. Really good pitching," Vitello said of what he's seen from Alabama. "Coach Bohannon usually has a pretty good approach to how he's going to put together his roster. He has some guys we wanted on this campus. They have a good approach, we saw it first-hand last year down there. They are going to play the game the right way and not do anything crazy one way or the other. The pitching has kind of taken over and become the core of what they got going on."

"It's a winning program that will be coming in here on a hot streak, so it should make for a pretty good matchup."

Bohannon has found a steady weekend rotation with Friday night RHP Garrett McMillan (3-2, 2.79 ERA), Saturday pitcher Jacob McNairy (4-0, 5.73 ERA) and Sunday LHP Grayson Hitt (3-0, 2.78 ERA).

McMillan has done well for the Tide as the ace, posting a 0.97 WHIP (eighth-best in SEC) in eight starts. McNairy has struggled the most out of the Tide's rotation, giving up 15 earned runs in 15.1 IP against conference opponents. The senior gave up ten hits against the Rebels last Saturday in a mere 3.2 inning pitched. Hitt is 2-0 in conference play with a 3.80 ERA, most recently securing the series sweeping win for the Tide against Ole Miss last Sunday.

The three pitchers will go toe-to-toe with the team that leads the NCAA in home runs. As for the pitching matchups, Chase Burns, Chase Dollander, and Drew Beam will once again start for Tennessee on the mound this weekend. The Vols' rotation has an average 1.88 ERA.

Chase Burns to Rebound

Tennessee's Friday pitcher Chase Burns (6-0, 1.51 ERA) had the worst outing of his young career on Rocky Top last Friday against Mizzou. The freshman pitched 2.2 innings, gave up three hits, including a two-run homer in the first and walked a season-high four batters.

But outside of his performance against Missouri, Burns has shown he belongs in the conversation for SEC Pitcher of the Year, allowing only eight runs in 39 innings pitched before last weekend.

With another big weekend matchup on the horizon, head coach Tony Vitello noted Burns was more eager this week in practice to get back into a rhythm.

"He was antsy to get back into his routine a little bit more. Because he had more time overall and he feels more fresh."

Vitello added that Burns' performance last week is par for the course as a pitcher.

"I've been on teams where future big leaguers didn't get out of the first inning," Vitello said. "So it's just the cost of doing business going out there every week. May or may not be at your best."

The Tide is currently seventh in the SEC in batting average with a .291 and ranks 10th in the SEC with 36 home runs. Alabama has a few bats that could give Burns and the Vols' weekend rotation fits this weekend, as senior outfielder Tommy Seidl has a .331 batting average and Zane Denton has left the yard nine times this season to lead the team. However, Burns has seen better lineups like Texas and Vanderbilt and done well, giving up a combined three runs to both teams.

The weather in Knoxville will be more kind to Burns this time around, too, as the first pitch will be thrown in 70-degree Knoxville weather on Friday night.

Jared Dickey Back to Full Force

Tennessee utility man Jared Dickey suffered a deep bone bruise on his ankle in the Ole Miss series and has been limited ever since, serving strictly as a bat in pinch-hitting situations and as a DH in two games against Mizzou.

On Thursday, Tony Vitello said this will be the first weekend Dickey will be able to play on defense.

"This will be the first weekend where he will be available to play defense," Vitello said.

The freshman has been one of the best bats for the No. 1 Vols all season (.397 BA) and has done well playing in left field, serving as the main guy in the left-field rotation of himself, Seth Stephenson, Chris Moore and Christian Scott.

With Dickey available to play in both facets of the game, it makes Tennessee's star-studded roster all the more dangerous.

Staff Predictions:

Jack

Tennessee will win this series. But Alabama has been playing good baseball, and they are the first SEC team the Vols will have faced that are currently hitting their stride.

I see Alabama taking one from Tennessee on Saturday. This will make Drew Beam have to pitch for a series win, something he hasn't had to do all season. But Beam will rise to the occasion and put together another solid outing to give Tennessee their eighth series win.

Friday: Tennessee 7, Alabama 4

Saturday: Tennessee 6, Alabama 8

Sunday: Tennessee 5, Alabama 2

Jake 

I’m going with the Vols as well, with Chase Burns bouncing back before Chase Dollander and the Tennessee bullpen fend off the Tide on Saturday.

I do think Alabama gets a win, though I think it comes on Sunday with the Tide scratching a couple runs late in a tight game. 

Friday: Tennessee 6, Alabama 2

Saturday: Tennessee 8, Alabama 4

Sunday: Alabama 5, Tennessee 3

Riley 

This is Tennessee's series to lose. They have the potential to get swept or sweep. That being said, I'm going with the latter. The pitching staff has been phenomenal. Assuming the Tennessee Tech game was an anomaly, and the offense gets back on track, I see Tony Vitello's squad taking the series against Bama.

Friday: Tennessee 7, Alabama 3

Saturday: Tennessee 4, Alabama 3

Sunday: Tennessee 6, Alabama 2

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Photo Credit: Saul Young Knoxville News Sentinel