After two straight weeks on the road in the SEC, Tennessee baseball is back at Lindsey Nelson Stadium this weekend where they’ll host Texas A&M in a rematch of last season’s College World Series final series.
The Vols are coming off of a series sweep of Alabama while Texas A&M is desperately looking to turn its season around. Here’s how to watch and more notes ahead of the three-game series in Knoxville.
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How to Watch: No. 1 Tennessee baseball (27-2, 8-1 SEC) vs. Texas A&M (14-14, 1-8 SEC)
Game One (Friday):
First pitch time: 7 p.m. ET
Announcers: PxP: Tom Hart, CC: Chris Burke and Kyle Peterson
Watch: ESPNU
Game Two (Saturday):
First pitch time: 6 p.m. ET
Announcers: PxP: Andy Brock, CC: Cody Hawn
Watch: SEC Network+
Game Three (Sunday):
First pitch time: 3 p.m. ET
Announcers: PxP: Tom Hart, CC: Chris Burke and Kyle Peterson
Watch: ESPN2
Pitching Matchups
Game One:
Vols LHP Liam Doyle: 7 GS, 4-1, 2.95 ERA, 36.2 IP, 0.98 WHIP, 73 K, 12 BB
vs.
Aggies LHP Ryan Prager: 7 GS, 2-1, 3.35 ERA, 40.1 IP, 1.14 WHIP, 38 K, 13 BB
Game Two:
Vols RHP Marcus Phillips: 7 GS, 3-0, 2.02 ERA, 35.2 IP, 0.93 WHIP, 42 K, 9 BB
vs.
Aggies LHP Justin Lamkin: 7 GS, 1-3, 3.76 ERA, 40.2 IP, 1.13 WHIP, 49 K, 10 BB
Game Three:
TBD
vs.
Aggies LHP Myles Patton: 7 GS, 2-3, 3.82 ERA, 37.2 IP, 1.04 WHIP, 40 K, 7 BB
What To Know About Texas A&M
In recent seasons, the national champions have struggled the ensuing season. But this year, it’s the defending national runner-up Texas A&M that has been highly disappointing. Returning the core of last season’s team, Texas A&M was the consensus No. 1 team in the preseason.
Things quickly went sideways for the Aggies with early season losses to Cal State, Texas State, UTSA and New Mexico State. Texas A&M’s season went from bad-to-worse when SEC play started. Alabama swept the Aggies in the SEC opening series in College Station. Vanderbilt swept Texas A&M in Nashville while Kentucky won two out of three at Texas A&M last weekend.
Star third baseman Gavin Grahovac is out for the season Preseason Second Team All-SEC selection Caden Sorrell just returned from injury last weekend.
Texas A&M enters the weekend with a 14-14 (1-8 SEC) record and is in a desperate need of wins if they’re going to get its season back on track.
What Would A Gavin Kilen Return Mean For Tennessee?
Tennessee second baseman Gavin Kilen has been out of the Vols’ starting lineup the last eight games after suffering a hamstring injury in Tennessee’s loss against ETSU. Kilen pinch hit last weekend against South Carolina and Tony Vitello said that the star infielder is nearing a return to the field.
What would a Kilen return mean for Tennessee? Tennessee has shifted its infield with Kilen out and inserted Ariel Anitgua into its starting shortstop spot. Antigua has been fantastic defensively and good offensively since becoming an everyday starter and it would be hard to take him out of the lineup.
When Kilen is starting at second base, my best guess is that it bumps freshman Manny Marin from the lineup. But what if Kilen first returns at designated hitter, which seems possible if not likely, instead of second base?
Dalton Bargo is on a tear and has had the designated hitter job on lock down. I don’t think Tennessee can take Bargo out of the lineup at the present moment. If Kilen returns as a designated hitter, Bargo could move to third base or left field bumping either Marin or Jay Abernathy from the lineup.
But the most important note is that none of these decisions will be permanent for the season. Tennessee’s hitting depth means that Vitello and his staff will ride the hot hand at three to four positions.
A Quick Prediction
Tennessee is playing great baseball and Texas A&M is a highly desperate team. The Aggies are much more talented than their record indicates and at some point I’d guess they’ll break out of this funk and start racking up wins. The question is whether or not it’s too late to make the NCAA Tournament.
The Vols have been stellar at home in recent years and I don’t think that changes this weekend. Texas A&M gets a win but Tennessee takes the series.
Prediction: Tennessee wins two out of three
