Tennessee baseball continues its home stand this weekend as they host Bowling Green at Lindsey Nelson Stadium in Knoxville.
The Vols enter the weekend set 8-1 and riding a seven-game winning streak since falling to Oklahoma in extra innings at the Shriners Children’s College Classic. Bowling Green enters the weekend 2-4 after taking one game in each of its first two weeks series this season.
Tennessee’s pitching staff, which was already in flux at this point in the season is even more fluid this weekend. Ace AJ Russell is taking the weekend off after dealing with side soreness last week. Key bullpen arm Chris Stamos’ status is also unclear after trainer Jeff Wood looked at him before he exited Tuesday’s win over High Point.
The pitching injuries open up more opportunities for other arms in Frank Anderson’s staff and will be the story to watch this weekend.
Here’s everything to know about of the three-game series.
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How To Watch — No. 8 Tennessee (8-1) vs. Bowling Green (2-4)
Game One
- 4:30 p.m. ET
- SEC Network+
- PxP: Andy Brock, CC: Caylan Arnold
Game Two
- 5 p.m. ET
- SEC Network+
- PxP: Andy Brock, CC: Caylan Arnold
Game Three
- 1 p.m. ET
- SEC Network+
- PxP: Andy Brock, CC: Caylan Arnold
Projected Pitching Matchups
Game One
RHP AJ Causey — 1-0, 1.17 ERA, 7.2 IP, 1 BB, 9 K, 0.78 WHIP vs. RHP DJ Newman — 1-1, 3.60 ERA, 10 IP, 4 BB, 16 K, 1.30 WHIP)
Game Two
RHP Drew Beam — 1-0, 2.53 ERA, 10.2 IP, 0 BB, 6 K, 1.22 WHIP vs. LHP Nic Good — 0-0, 8.59 ERA, 7.1 IP, 3 BB, 5 K, 1.77 WHIP)
Game Three
TBA vs. TBA
Potential Position Starters
Tennessee:
C — Cannon Peebles OR Cal Stark
1B — Blake Burke
2B — Christian Moore
3B — Billy Amick
SS — Dean Curley
LF — Dylan Dreiling OR Robin Villeneuve
CF — Hunter Ensley OR Kavares Tears
RF — Kavares Tears OR Dalton Bargo
DH — Robin Villeneuve OR Dalton Bargo OR Cannon Peebles
– Tennessee did not list projected starters in its game notes so potential starters are my own projections. The Vols have heavily rotated players in the outfield to this point in the season.
Quick Look At Bowling Green
2023 record: 20-30 (13-17 MAC)
2023 postseason: None
Prediction
Tennessee stays unbeaten on the home stand and sweeps Bowling Green in the weekend series.