SCORE: Tennessee 0, Missouri 0 | T1

***SCROLL DOWN FOR LIVE AT-BAT BY AT-BAT FEED***

Third-ranked Tennessee baseball (36-7, 14-6 SEC) is set to host the Missouri Tigers (19-25, 6-14 SEC) Saturday in game three of a three-game series in Knoxville.

First pitch is at 12:00 p.m. ET on the SEC Network. Reminder that 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. You can also watch or listen to the game using the links.

Game three is the second game of the series to be televised, as game one aired on the SEC Network. Game two was streamed on SEC Network +.

This is Tennessee’s first of three Thursday–Saturday weekend series. Next week at Florida is a Thursday–Saturday series, and the final series of the season vs. South Carolina will be Thursday–Saturday.

Tennessee is looking to sweep the weekend series over the Tigers with a win on Saturday after blowing out Missouri in the series opener, 10-1, and winning an ‘ugly’ battle in game two, 3-2, to clinch the series.

AJ Causey provided the Vols with yet another elite relief outing on Friday while the offense tied a season-high with six home runs in the game. Billy Amick left the yard twice, and Tennessee also debuted the black helmets with their ‘Dark Mode’ alternate uniforms.

Read more about Tennessee’s dominant series-opening win here.

In game two, Drew Beam turned in an elite start and Tennessee’s defense was arguably the best its been in a single game this season.

Read more about Tennessee’s series-clinching game two win here.

Prior clinching the series over Missouri, the Vols had their most impressive weekend to date last weekend, as they beat (then) third-ranked Kentucky in a three-game series on the road. Tennessee won games two and three 9-4 and 13-11, respectively, after dropping the opener in Lexington, 5-3.

The series win catapulted Tennessee over Kentucky in the rankings, and the Vols are the unanimous number three team in the country behind fellow SEC squads Texas A&M and Arkansas.

In addition to the monumental series win in Lexington, Tennessee owns a series sweep over defending national champions LSU in Knoxville, series wins over No. 20 Georgia and Ole Miss at home, and a series victory over Auburn on the road.

Saturday’s win over Missouri gave Tennessee its’ sixth straight SEC series win. A win on Saturday would give the Vols their second sweep in league play and fifth this season.

In addition to the six conference series wins, some highlights from Tennessee’s season have been its series sweep over Illinois, 10-run midweek win over Kansas State, and wins over Texas Tech and Baylor in Arlington.

As for Missouri, the Tigers have been among the worst teams in the SEC this season. Sitting at a 6-14 conference record, Missouri has lost all but one series in conference play. The Tigers’ lone conference series win came against Florida, who they swept. Missouri also owns wins against Kentucky, Georgia and LSU. Vanderbilt and Arkansas are the only teams to sweep Missouri this season, but Tennessee is aiming to become the third.

On paper, Missouri is the least difficult series remaining on Tennessee’s schedule, and a sweep should be the Vols’ goal.

Injury Note

-Sophomore RHP AJ Russell remains out as he deals with forearm soreness. Russell will likely be out for a while, but he didn’t suffer a very serious injury.

For all of RTI’s baseball coverage so far this season, including what Tony Vitello said after the low-scoring, series-clinching victory over Missouri, click here.

For RTI’s latest Press Pass Baseball Podcast, click here.

More From RTI: Tennessee Baseball vs. Missouri Game Two LIVE Thread

WATCH: Tony Vitello Breaks Down ‘Ugly’ Series-Clinching Win Over Missouri

Lineups, pitching matchup and additional pre-game notes are below, followed by the LIVE at-bat by at-bat game thread.

Starting Lineups

TENNESSEE STARTING NINE: 

2B Christian Moore (R)

1B Blake Burke (L)

3B Billy Amick (R)

RF Kavares Tears (L)

LF Dylan Dreiling (L)

SS Dean Curley (R)

CF Hunter Ensley (R)

DH Reese Chapman (L)

C Cal Stark (R)

Lineup Notes:

• Reese Chapman gets his second DH start of the weekend after Dalton Bargo got the nod on Saturday. The two have been rotating at the DH spot regularly.
• Cal Stark starting behind the plate for the seventh straight time in SEC play. That makes back-to-back series Stark has started every game of the series. Stark is the bona-fide No. 1 catcher now for the Vols.
• Outfield trio remains the same as its been in SEC play.
• Top seven of the order remain the same.

MISSOURI STARTING NINE:

LF Brock Daniels (L)

3B Trevor Austin (R)

C Mateo Serna (S)

2B Matt Garcia (S)

1B Danny Corona (L)

DH Thomas Curry (R)

CF Kaden Peer (L)

SS Drew Culbertson (R)

RF Jackson Lovich (R)

Pitching Matchup:

Vols Sr. LHP Zander Sechrist (1-0, 3.82 ERA, 11 app., 10 starts, 35.1 IP, 38 H, 15 R, 15 ER, 6 BB, 40 K, .277 opp. batting avg., 1.25 WHIP)

vs.

Tigers Covid-Sr. RHP Carter Rustad (4-5, 5.87 ERA, 10 app., 7 starts, 46.0 IP, 45 H, 33 R, 30 ER, 10 BB, 43 K, .249 opp. batting avg., 1.20 WHIP)

Pitching notes:

• Sechrist logs his sixth straight start on the series finale in SEC play. Expect Nate Snead to pitch a lot today, as well.
• Missouri starting Rustad is a surprise, as their projected starter in their pre-series game notes, Javyn Pimental, is obviously not starting. Missouri notified Tennessee of the change after Friday night’s game. Who knows why they made the last-minute change.
  • Rustad’s stats aren’t terrible but are also not great. He’s given up a combined 10 earned runs in 6.2 innings over his last two outings.

Uniforms

Tennessee: Creams

Missouri: Black tops, grey pants

*NOTE* There IS a RUN-RULE today. If Tennessee or Missouri leads by 10 or more runs in the seventh inning or later, the game is OVER.

• Run-rule is MANDATORY in SEC games.

1st Inning: 

T1

B1

Score: Vols 0, Tigers 0

2nd Inning: 

T2

B2

Score: Vols , Tigers

3rd Inning: 

T3

B3

Score: Vols , Tigers

4th Inning: 

T4

B4

Score: Vols , Tigers

5th Inning: 

T5

B5

Score: Vols , Tigers

6th Inning: 

T6

B6

Score: Vols , Tigers

7th Inning: 

T7

B7

Score: Vols , Tigers

8th Inning: 

T8

B8

Score: Vols , Tigers

9th Inning: 

T9

B9

FINAL: Tennessee Vols __, Missouri Tigers __

EVANSVILLE, Ind. (WFIE) – A must watch! Here’s our NCAA Softball Highlights of Aces vs. Missouri State.

After the game, we caught up with Aces softball, after their thrilling 6-5 walk-off win over the Bears! Here’s what they had to say:

“Wow, I am just filled with so much excitement. My teammates really came through in that last inning,” said Jenna Nink, who hit the game-winning home run. “We knew this was really gonna be a fight, and we just tried to put the pressure on every inning. Brooke Voss did a great job starting that inning off, and then Jess Willsey behind her, doing a great job of just getting on. I was really excited. It was 3-1, so I was just trying to hunt something good, and it was there and it just found the barrel.”

“I told her I said, it’s 3-1, get your money’s worth,” said Aces softball head coach, Mat Mundell. “Like go ahead, if it’s your pitch, just put a good swing on it and she got the pitch she wanted and she drove it hard. We’re down to two outs there, but we did it a couple weeks ago in the first game of that series, where Zoe Frossard did the same thing, got on, and we were able to get it. I think they’re just starting to really have confidence in each other, knowing like hey if I’m not gonna get it done, the next girl can.”

During Nink’s interview, Hannah Hood and Taylor Howe doused Nink with a well-deserved water cooler shower! UE will honor its seven seniors on Saturday, as the Aces and Bears play at 2 p.m.

Copyright 2024 WFIE. All rights reserved.

The Detroit Lions picked Missouri cornerback Ennis Rakestraw Jr. in the second round of Friday’s 2024 NFL draft in Detroit.

The Lions entered Friday with just one scheduled pick, No. 61 overall, after trading their third-rounder (No. 73) to the Dallas Cowboys on Thursday for the right to move up and draft Alabama cornerback Terrion Arnold. They now have drafted two corners, along with adding two in March, trading for Carlton Davis and signing Amik Robertson. They waived last season’s starter, Cam Sutton, in mid-March after learning there was a warrant out for his arrest on one count of domestic battery by strangulation.

Rakestraw played in nine games with eight starts last season as a redshirt junior, totaling 35 tackles and four pass breakups. He missed four games with a groin injury. He started all 13 games in 2022, collecting 35 tackles, 4½ tackles for loss, an interception and two forced fumbles.

INSTANT GRADE: Lions’ double down at cornerback with Missouri’s Ennis Rakestraw Jr. a great move

He tore his ACL in the 2021 season after playing in four games.

With no third- or fourth-round pick, which the Lions sent to the Minnesota Vikings as part of the 2022 T.J. Hockenson deal, the Lions could be done for the night.

[ LIONS FANS: Celebrate the team’s epic 2023 season with a new book from the Free Press, “From Grit to Glory.” Order now! ]  

They have four picks Saturday on Day 3: No. 164 in the fifth round, Nos. 201 and 205 in Round 6, and No. 249 in the seventh round.

The Lions added Arnold, one of the two best cornerbacks in the draft and a potential starter for their secondary on Day 1, and on Friday got more help for their defense with Rakestraw.

ANALYSIS: Lions keep adding Alabama football flavor to organization. It’s not by accident.

Though they have one of the best rosters in the NFL, the Lions still have depth needs at wide receiver, offensive line, defensive line and safety.

This breaking news story will be updated.

Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on X and Instagram at @davebirkett.