Post by The Cats on Apr 22, 2024 20:36:19 GMT -5
Who: Tennessee
When: Tuesday, April 23, 2024
Time: 6:00 pm
Where: Lindsey Nelson Stadium, Knoxville, Tenn.
TV/video: ESPN
Live Stats: WCU Live Stats
Nickname: Volunteers
Colors: Orange and White
Mascot: Smokey XI
Conference: SEC
Students: 36,304
Head Coach: Tony Vitello - accepted the position of head coach for the Tennessee Volunteers baseball program on June 7, 2017. Since taking over at UT, Vitello has led the Big Orange back to national prominence and has helped establish Tennessee baseball as an SEC and national power, leading the program to four NCAA regionals (2019, 2021, 2022, 2023), three NCAA super regionals (2021, 2022, 2023) and a pair of Men's College World Series appearances (2021 & 2023).
The Series: The Cats own a 6-25 overall record vs. the Volunteers, in a series that started in 1983. The Cats are 4-18 in games played in Knoxville, and 1-9 in the last ten games played. The Cats are currently on a 7 game skid vs. Tennessee.
Current record: 33-7 overall, 26-2 home, 5-4 away, 2-1 neutral, 12-6 SEC
The Volunteers will look to remain unbeaten in midweek games this season, as they enter Tuesday's contest with a perfect 10-0 mark. Junior infielder Christian Moore is having an SEC Player of the Year type season and continued his impressive campaign last weekend during UT's road series win in Lexington. Entering this week, Moore leads the team and ranks fifth in the SEC with a career-best 19 home runs after hitting four against the Wildcats over the weekend, including a program-record tying three in Sunday's series finale.
The Vols boast one of the best lineups in college baseball this year. Coming into Tuesday's contest, UT ranks among the top 10 nationally in the following offensive categories:
Stat (National Rank)
Batting Average: .330 (4)
Doubles: 105 (3)
Hits: 444 (10)
Home Runs: 111 (1)
Home Runs/Game: 2.78 (1)
On-Base Pct: .435 (8)
Runs: 415 (1)
Runs/Game: 10.4 (2)
Slugging Pct: .659 (1)