Vols Take On The Gators Beginning Thursday Night
With just three weekend series remaining, No. 3/3 Tennessee is entering the home stretch of the regular season as it head south to Gainesville for a showdown against SEC East rival Florida at Condron Family Ballpark.
The Vols are slated to play their second consecutive Thursday through Saturday series with game one set for a primetime 7 p.m. start on ESPN. Despite dropping their first midweek game of the year on Tuesday, the Big Orange enter the series red-hot in league play, having won 10 of their last 11 SEC contests.
Tickets for this weekend's series can be purchased through Florida Athletics by clicking HERE.
Mike Monaco (PxP) and VFL Chris Burke (analyst) will be on the call for Thursday's series opener on ESPN while Sean Kelley (PxP) and Nick Belmonte (analyst) will broadcast the final two games of the series on SEC Network+ and the ESPN app.
Fans can also listen to the Voice of Tennessee Baseball John Wilkerson call the action all series long on the Vol Network (FM 99.1/AM 990) and its participating affiliates throughout the state. A free audio stream will also be available on UTSports.com, the Tennessee Athletics App and the Varsity App.
GAME 1: LHP Chris Stamos (3 GS, 3-0, 2.89 ERA) vs. LHP Pierce Coppola (3 GS, 0-2, 10.50 ERA)
GAME 2: RHP Drew Beam (11 GS, 6-1, 3.29 ERA) vs. TBD
GAME 3: LHP Zander Sechrist (11 GS, 1-0, 3.89 ERA) vs. LHP Jac Caglianone (10 GS, 5-0, 4.10 ERA)
Overall: Gators lead, 156-95
in Knoxville: Gators lead, 69-49
in Gainesville: Gators lead, 83-44
at Neutral Sites: Gators lead, 4-2
Last 10 Meetings: Vols lead, 7-3
Last Meeting: W, 14-2 (8 Inn.) – April 8, 2023 in Knoxville
The Vols will look to continue their recent string of success in Gainesville after winning each of their last three series on the road against the Gators, including a sweep during their last trip to the Swamp in 2022. Florida won last year's series in Knoxville, taking the first two contests before UT salvaged a game with a 14-2 run-rule victory in the finale.
SEC Success Under Vitello
During the five-plus seasons in which Tennessee has played SEC games under head coach Tony Vitello, the Vols are 102-69 in league play. In the six full seasons prior to Vitello taking over (2012-17), UT was 81-120 in SEC play.
The Vols are 76-35 in SEC regular-season play since 2021, which is the best record in the league in that span, two games better than Arkansas (74-37). Including postseason games, the Vols are 84-38 against SEC foes since 2021. UT has posted 15 series sweeps in conference play under Vitello: 2024 (2), 2023 (3), 2022 (6), 2021 (2), 2019 (1), 2018 (1). In the six year's prior to Vitello taking over, (2012-17) Tennessee swept just two SEC series.
Bullpen Has Been Big
Tennessee's bullpen has put together some strong performances throughout SEC play and has gotten contributions from a variety of different pitchers. Over their past four series, the bullpen has a 3.44 ERA in 55.0 innings with 62 strikeouts and just 15 walks while holding opposing hitters to a .245 batting average. During UT's series sweep of Missouri last week, the bullpen allowed just one run over 13.0 innings pitched for a 0.69 ERA while combining for 11 strikeouts and just four walks.
Success on Sunday, Series Finales & Rubber Games
UT has played some of its best baseball on Sundays, posting an 9-1 record on Sunday this year. The Vols are also 10-1 in series finales this season after last Saturday's 3-2 victory over Mizzou to complete a sweep.
After an unusual season in 2023 where they only played two rubber games all year, five of the Vols' seven SEC series so far this season have featured a Sunday rubber game. Tennessee is 4-1 in those games, having won four consecutive decisive game threes against the likes of No. 18 Ole Miss, No. 22 Georgia, Auburn and No. 3 Kentucky. Under Vitello (2018-pres.), the Vols are an impressive 17-10 in rubber games including a 16-9 mark in SEC play.
Florida Gators (23-21, 9-12 SEC)
- Head Coach: Kevin O'Sullivan (17th season)
- 2023 Postseason: CWS (National Runner-Up)
- Rankings: D1Baseball – NR | USA Today – NR | Baseball America – NR | NCBWA – RV | Perfect Game – NR
- 2024 SEC Preseason Poll: 1st in Eastern Division
- Preseason All-Conference Selections (4)
- 1B/LHP Jac Caglianone (1st Team 1B, 2nd Team SP)
- 2B Cade Kurland (1st Team)
- SS Colby Shelton (1st Team)
- RHP Brandon Neely (1st Team)
- Stat Leaders:
- Batting Avg: Jac Caglianone (.402)
- Runs: Jac Caglianone (51)
- Hits: Jac Caglianone (70)
- Home Runs: Jac Caglianone (26)
- RBI: Jac Caglianone (53)
- Stolen Bases: Five tied (4)
- Wins: Jac Caglianone (5)
- Saves: Four tied (1)
- ERA (min. 20 IP): Jac Caglianone (4.10)
- WHIP (min. 20 IP): Fisher Jameson (1.16)
- Innings Pitched: Jac Caglianone (48.1)
- Strikeouts: Cade Fisher (62)
The Vols host Queens in their penultimate midweek game of the season on Tuesday, May 7 at 6 p.m. before another road series against an SEC East rival next weekend when they make the short drive to the Midstate to take on Vanderbilt in Nashville.