LEXINGTON, Ky. – No. 1/1 Tennessee starts the home stretch of its regular-season schedule with the first of three straight Thursday through Saturday series this week. The Vols travel north to Lexington for a border battle against the Kentucky Wildcats at Kentucky Proud Park.
UT enters Thursday’s series opener having won 12 consecutive series, including nine straight against SEC opponents if you count last year’s Super Regional against LSU.
TICKET INFORMATION
Tickets for this week’s series against the Wildcats can be purchased through Ticketmaster.com.
BROADCAST INFO
Thursday’s game will be broadcast on the SEC Network with Mike Morgan and Todd Walker on the call. Friday and Saturday’s contests will be streamed on SEC Network+ and the ESPN app with Dick Gabriel (PxP) and Doug Flynn (analyst) calling the action.
The online broadcasts can be accessed on any mobile device through WatchESPN. WatchESPN can be accessed through the ESPN App, or online at espn.com/watch.
Fans can also listen to the Voice of Tennessee Baseball John Wilkerson and Vince Ferrara call the game on the Vol Network (FM 99.1/AM 990) as well as UTSports.com and the Tennessee Athletics App.
New Vol Network Radio Affiliates
The Vol Network had added multiple radio affiliates to broadcast remaining Tennessee baseball SEC games this season. The complete list of new affiliates is below. Please check your local listings prior to each weekend. Game coverage varies by station.
Chattanooga: WFLI (FM 97.7, FM 100.3, AM 1070)
Cleveland: The Buzz (FM 101.3)
Cookeville: WKXD (FM 104.7)
Lawrenceburg: WWLX (FM 106.1, FM 93.1, AM 590)
Muscle Shoals, AL: WSBM (FM 97.9, AM 1340)
Nashville: The Zone (FM 104.5) – Saturday Only
Oneida: WBNT (FM 105.5)
Pulaski: WKSR (FM 107.7, FM 100.9, AM 1420)
SERIES SCHEDULE/PROJECTED STARTING PITCHERS
Game 1 – Thursday, May 5 (7 p.m.)
RHP Chase Burns (7-1, 2.09 ERA) vs. TBA
Game 2 – Friday, May 6 (6:30 p.m.)
RHP Blade Tidwell (1-0, 1.93 ERA) vs. TBA
Game 3 – Saturday, May 7 (2 p.m.)
RHP Drew Beam (8-0, 2.14 ERA) vs. RHP Sean Harney (5-3, 2.82 ERA)
SERIES HISTORY
Overall: Tennessee leads, 177-152
In Knoxville: Tennessee leads, 101-71
In Lexington: Kentucky leads, 79-73
Neutral Sites: Tennessee leads, 3-2
Last Meeting: W, 11-2 (5/1/21 in Knoxville)
The Vols have won each of the last three series against the Wildcats, posting a 7-2 record in those games. In UT’s last trip to Lexington in 2019, it swept Kentucky and outscored the Wildcats 28-5 for the series.
NOTABLE
Record Breakers
With five home runs in Tuesday’s 14-1 midweek victory over Alabama A&M, Tennessee set a new single-season program record for homers with 108, surpassing the previous mark of 107 set back in 1998. The Vols have had 15 different players go yard this season, including five with double-digit bombs. Their 108 home runs lead the nation and are 25 more than the next closest SEC team (Florida & Mississippi State – 83).
Series Win Streak Up to 12
UT enters this week’s series in Lexington having won 12 consecutive series, including nine over SEC opponents, dating back to last season. Of their 10 weekend series wins this season, eight have been sweeps.
First to 40
With a win over Auburn in last Sunday’s rubber game, Tennessee became the first team in the country to reach the 40-win mark this season, doing so in just 44 games. The Vols are just the second SEC team to record 40 wins in 44 games since the league expanded in 1992. South Carolina in 2000 was the only other team to accomplish the feat in that span.
The Volunteer Fireman
Redshirt junior flamethrower Ben Joyce put on a show in his four scoreless innings of relief last Sunday against Auburn.
According to Tennessee’s YakkerTech data tracking system, the Knoxville native threw 28 pitches that were clocked at 103 mph or faster. Of those 28 pitches, 15 were 104 mph or faster and three were 105 mph or faster. His fastest pitch of the day was clocked at 105.5 mph, which is the fastest pitch in the history of college baseball and would be the second-fastest recorded pitch in Major League Baseball, just 0.3 mph behind Aroldis Chapman, who threw 105.8 mph pitch as a Cincinnati Red against the San Diego Padres on Sept. 24, 2010.
OPPONENT SCOUT
Kentucky Wildcats
- Record: 24-20 (7-14 SEC)
- 2021 Postseason: N/A
- 2022 SEC Preseason Poll: 6th in East
- Head Coach: Nick Mingione (6th season)
- Preseason Conference Honors:
- SS Ryan Ritter (2nd Team)
- Stat Leaders:
- Batting Avg: Daniel Harris IV (.324)
- Runs: Chase Estep (47)
- Hits: Chase Estep (53)
- Home Runs: Estep/Plastiak (12)
- RBI: Jacob Plastiak (40)
- Stolen Bases: Chase Estep (13)
- Wins: Sean Harney (5)
- Saves: Tyler Guilfoil (4)
- ERA (min. 20 IP): Darren Williams (0.93)
- WHIP (min. 20 IP): Tyler Guilfoil (0.96)
- Innings Pitched: Sean Harney (44.2)
- Strikeouts: Tyler Guilfoil (56)
ON DECK
The Vols host Bellarmine on Tuesday, May 10 at 6:30 p.m. in the first of their final five regular-season home games this season.
-UT Athletics
