• The Table Rock Fire is the first time South Carolina has ever used a Very Large Airtanker.
• See what airplanes are fighting fires in North Carolina and South Carolina.

South Carolina is bringing in the big guns to fight the rapidly expanding Table Rock wildfire. Very Large Airtankers, a type of water-dropping airplane, are on the scene to help first responders.

This is the first time in South Carolina history that this type of aircraft has been used in the state, according to the South Carolina Forestry Commission.

The VLAT is just one of five types of aircraft fighting the raging Table Rock Fire, which grew expansively on Thursday, charring nearly 8700 acres as of Thursday evening.

The Table Rock Fire continues to rage on Friday, creeping north to burn in Transylvania County as well as the Upstate. Burn bans are in place across the two states and evacuation orders have been mandated for the affected counties.

Table Rock Fire is the largest, but not the only, fire burning North Carolina. First responders are also battling a large fire in Polk County, the Deep Woods and Black Cove fires; Swain County, the Alarka Fire; and Haywood County, the Rattlesnake Branch Fire.

What is a Very Large Airtanker?

Very Large Airtankers can deliver thousands of gallons of fire retardant at one time, according to the National Interagency Fire Center.

It’s the largest type of fire fighting airplane and can hold around 9,400 gallons of flame retardant. The aircraft can hover at least 250 feet above the burning land and deliver the retardant.

This airtanker worked to contain the northeast end of the Table Rock fire on Thursday, March 27, according to the South Carolina Forestry Commission.

What types of aircraft are fighting the wildfires?

There is a lot of air power in South Carolina Friday to help contain the wildfires. In addition to the VLAT, at least four other types of aircrafts are helping first responders dull the fire’s rapid blaze.

Large airtankers are on the scene. This plane can hold between 2,000 to 4,000 gallons of fire retardant or water to suprress wildfires. Single-engine airtanks offer additional support, with the capibility to carry 800 gallons fire retardant or water.

Additionally, the South Carolina Law Enforcment Division and South Carolina National Guard are operating helicopters to fight the fire from above.

Western NC Wildfire map

See up-to-date information about the active wildfires in the region.

South Carolina Wildfire map

Tennessee baseball returns to the road again with the weekend series at South Carolina beginning Friday.

The Vols (23-2, 5-1 SEC) took two of three games from Alabama in Tuscaloosa last week to remain at No. 1 in the coaches poll with what is the softest part of the SEC schedule in the next two weeks.

Next up for Tennessee: South Carolina (17-9, 1-5), who has struggled in series losses to Oklahoma and Arkansas to open conference play.

Here’s how you can watch Tennessee baseball vs. South Carolina:

Watch Tennessee baseball live on Fubo (free trial)

Tennessee baseball vs. South Carolina on Friday and Saturday will be streamed live on SEC Network+, which is housed on the ESPN app and can be accessed via a SEC Network subscription. If you are subscribed to SEC Network, you can access SEC Network+ online.

Sunday’s game will be televised on the SEC Network.

• Game 1 start time: 7 p.m. Friday (SEC Network+)
• Game 2 start time: 4 p.m. Saturday (SEC Network+)
• Game 3 start time: 5 p.m. Sunday (SEC Network)

• Feb. 14: Hofstra, W 15-0
• Feb. 15: Hofstra, W 18-1
• Feb. 16: Hofstra, W 13-1
• Feb. 18: UNC Asheville, W 29-4
• Feb. 21: Samford, W 5-1
• Feb. 22: Samford, W 7-3
• Feb. 23: Samford, W 11-1
• Feb. 25: North Alabama, W 7-5
• Feb. 28: vs. Oklahoma State in Houston, W 5-2
• March 1: vs. Rice in Houston, W 13-3
• March 2: vs. Arizona in Houston, W 5-1
• March 4: Radford, W 22-9
• March 5: Xavier, W 13-1
• March 7: St. Bonaventure, W 12-0
• March 8: St. Bonaventure, W 11-1
• March 9: St. Bonaventure, W 13-2
• March 11: West Georgia, W 4-2
• March 14: Florida, W 5-3
• March 15: Florida, W 10-0
• March 16: Florida, W 7-4
• March 18: ETSU, L 7-6 (10 innings)
• March 20: at Alabama, L 6-5
• March 21: at Alabama, W 10-7
• March 22: at Alabama, W 9-2
• March 25: Queens, W 14-3
• March 28: at South Carolina, 7 p.m. on SEC Network+
• March 29: at South Carolina, 4 p.m. on SEC Network+
• March 30: at South Carolina, 5 p.m. on SEC Network
• April 1: Tennessee Tech
• April 4-6: Texas A&M
• April 8: Alabama State
• April 11-13: at Ole Miss
• April 15: Bellarmine
• April 18-20: Kentucky
• April 22: Lipscomb
• April 25-27: at LSU
• April 29: Northern Kentucky
• May 2-4: Auburn
• May 6: Indiana State
• May 9-11: Vanderbilt
• May 13: Belmont
• May 15-17: at Arkansas
• May 20-25: SEC Tournament in Hoover, Alabama

Record: 23-2 (5-1 SEC)

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Tennessee baseball is back in action this weekend as they head on the road to face South Carolina in a three-game series at Founders Park.

The Vols are coming off of a series victory over Alabama and are looking to pick up their third straight series win to open up conference play. Here’s how to watch, pitching matchups and other details ahead of the three-game series in Columbia.

More From RTI: Tony Vitello Says There’s A‘Good Chance’ Gavin Kilen Could ‘Do Something’ For Tennessee Against South Carolina

How to Watch: No. 1 Tennessee baseball (23-2, 5-1 SEC) at South Carolina (17-9, 1-5 SEC)

Game One:

First pitch time: 7 p.m. ET

Announcers: PxP: Dave Weinstein, CC: Grayson Greiner

Watch: SEC Network+

Game Two:

First pitch time: 4 p.m. ET

Announcers: PxP: Dave Weinstein, CC: Grayson Greiner

Watch: SEC Network+

Game Three:

First pitch time: 5 p.m. ET

Announcers: PxP: Tom Hart, CC: Chris Burke

Watch: SEC Network

Pitching Matchups

Game One:

Vols LHP Liam Doyle: 6 GS, 3-1, 2.03 ERA, 31 IP, 0.84 WHIP, 62 K, 11 BB

vs.

Gamecocks LHP Jake McCoy: 6 GS, 2-2, 6.57 ERA, 24.2 IP, 1.46 WHIP, 45 K, 12 BB

Game Two:

Vols RHP Marcus Phillips: 6 GS, 2-0, 1.47 ERA, 30.2 IP, 0.91 WHIP, 35 K, 9 BB

vs.

Gamecocks LHP Jarvis Evans Jr: 5 GS, 3-0, 3.42 ERA, 26.1 IP, 1.18 WHIP, 27 K, 7 BB

Game Three:

TBD vs. TBD

What To Know About South Carolina

Tennessee baseball faces off with ole friend Paul Mainieri this weekend. The former LSU coach is in his first year leading the South Carolina program after the Gamecocks’ fired Mark Kingston last offseason.

It’s been a pretty rocky start to Mainieri’s first season in Columbia. In pre conference play, Clemson swept a three-game weekend series against South Carolina. The first two weeks of SEC play haven’t been any kinder to the Gamecocks. They dropped two of three at home to Oklahoma before Arkansas swept them in Fayetteville last weekend.

At the plate, Ethan Petry has been fantastic this season and is hitting .359 with six home runs, 15 extra-base hits and 23 RBIs. Nathan Hall is off to a stout start to his season too, hitting .398 with four home runs, 11 extra-base hits and 23 RBIs.

On the mound, Dylan Eskew has been South Carolina’s top bullpen arm. In 20.1 IP this season, Eskew is posting a 1.77 ERA though he has been a bit erratic at times.

Quick Prediction

Life on the road in the SEC is never easy and I don’t expect Tennessee to waltz into Founders Park and coast to a series sweep. But Tennessee is a much better team and South Carolina has been largely unimpressive to this point in the season.

The Vols should win this series and sweeping is very much on the table. But my respect for the difficulty of sweeping SEC series, especially on the road, is keeping me from predicting it.

Tennessee wins two out of three