HOOVER, Ala. − Tennessee baseball is the away team against Mississippi State in the SEC Tournament quarterfinals on Friday despite being the No. 1 seed.

The Vols are the away team against No. 5 seed Mississippi State at Hoover Met due to the SEC Tournament rules. The rules stipulate that “the team that has been the home team the least amount of games is the home team.”

Both Tennessee and Mississippi State have been the home team twice, so the first tiebreaker was applied, making MSU the home team because it played once as the away team during the SEC Tournament and the Vols had not yet been the away team. The first tiebreaker states the “team who has been the away team most is the home team.”

Tennessee was the home team against No. 8 Vanderbilt and No. 4 Texas A&M. Mississippi State was home against No. 12 Ole Miss and No. 8 Vanderbilt, but was the away team against No. 4 Texas A&M.

The winner of UT and MSU will advance to the SEC Tournament semifinals against Vanderbilt on Saturday. The tournament returns to a single-elimination format Saturday.

Mike Wilson covers University of Tennessee athletics. Email him at michael.wilson@knoxnews.com and follow him on Twitter @ByMikeWilson. If you enjoy Mike’s coverage, consider a digital subscription that will allow you access to all of it.

No. 1 Tennessee lost 13-4 to eight-seeded Vanderbilt in Wednesday’s round two matchup in the SEC Tournament.

The Volunteers had a rough start to their playoff journey, losing 13-4 to the No. 8-seeded Vanderbilt in round two of the SEC Tournament. With this loss, the Volunteers will continue play in the losers bracket where they will take on Mississippi State tonight, 30 minutes after the conclusion of Kentucky and Arkansas’ contest at 9:30 am CT.

The theme of tonight’s matchup for the Volunteers was poor performances on the mound, the Vols pitching staff allowed 13 runs on 15 hits, causing a total of eight pitching changes throughout the night. Vanderbilt caused most of their damage in the third inning, scoring four runs courtesy of an RBI single hit by third baseman Davis Diaz, followed by a three-run home run hit by catcher Alan Espinal to give the Commodores a 5-1 lead to close out the third inning.

Vanderbilt would tack on an additional run in the fourth inning via an RBI single from center fielder Calvin Hewett, improving the Commodores lead to 6-1 heading into the bottom of the fourth inning. Tennessee and designated hitter Reese Chapman would respond in the bottom of the fourth with a three run home run of their own, cutting down their deficit to two runs entering the fifth inning.

Despite a spark in the fourth inning, the Tennessee bats would fall silent for the remainder of the game. Vanderbilt on the other hand would continue to pour on runs, with the final nail in the coffin being a three-run home run in the eighth inning hit by shortstop Jonathan Vastine, putting the commodores up 12-4.

Tennessee Head Coach Tony Vitello spoke with the media following the Vols loss. “The result was awful, especially for fans. I think the city of Hoover likes when we’re here because a lot of our fans will attend. So, again, a bad result, but as I look at the box score, it was good to get a lot of guys get their cleats in the dirt in a situation that might be new to them or certainly is new to our group this year.” Vitello said.

Next up, Tennessee will take on the No. 5 seed Mississippi State in an elimination game taking place tonight, approximately thirty minutes after the conclusion No. 3 Kentucky and No. 2 Arkansas game at 9:30 am CT.

Tune into a playoff game for the first time and you will come across some unique, and maybe outlandish, uniforms that teams wear. It’s even the strategy some use to make their bracket come March Madness.

Tennessee softball is one of them.

The No. 3 seed Lady Vols (43-10 overall, 19-5) are playing for their ninth berth to the Women’s College World Series this weekend in the Knoxville Super Regional against SEC-foe No. 14 seed Alabama, starting on Friday, May 24 at 4 p.m. ET.

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Though the Lady Vols wear “traditional” Tennessee color uniforms, white and “Smokey Grey” they also have an alternate uniform that stands out on TV: “Summitt Blue.”

And so, as the Lady Vols look to pick up two more wins to return to the WCWS for the second straight year, curiosity has risen on the origin story of their “Summitt Blue” uniforms and why the Lady Vols wear them. Here’s what you need to know:

Why does Lady Vols softball wear blue uniforms?

To the average fan who does not pay close attention to Lady Vols games, blue may not look right in the color scheme for Tennessee — considering the Vols logo is orange and the men’s basketball and football programs alternate between white, orange and “Smokey Grey” uniforms — and that is a fair assessment, but there is some history to it.

And it is a two-fold answer.

The “blue accent color”, as it was called by Tennessee’s website, first debuted with the Lady Vols women’s basketball team in 1968 due to uniform manufacturing companies not offering orange uniforms. In response to this, Tennessee’s women’s athletic director emeritus Joan Cronan decided on the Lady Vols home uniforms to be Columbia blue with orange lettering and piping on them. That is how the “blue accent” was born.

But in 2022, as part of the NCAA celebrating the 50th anniversary of Title IX, Tennessee renamed its “blue accent color” to “Summitt Blue” in honor of legendary Lady Vols and women’s basketball coach Pat Summitt. Summitt, of course, was a pioneer for women’s sports across her 38-year career coaching on Rocky Top, which featured eight national championships and a 1,098-208 career coaching record.

That season, Tennessee unveiled “Summitt Blue” uniforms for women’s basketball, women’s soccer, softball and volleyball.

“Tennessee’s history as a worldwide leader in women’s athletics, along with the Lady Vols’ unique legacy of excellence are traditions we are proud to celebrate,” Tennessee vice chancellor and director of athletics Danny White said in a 2022 press release. “As some of our teams recently saw their new Summitt Blue uniforms for the first time, they reacted with a joy and enthusiasm that I hope will extend to our fans and proud alumni.”

Tennessee softball team first debuted its “Summitt Blue” uniforms down Puerto Vallarta, Mexico last season for the Puerto Vallarta College Challenge. Since then, the uniform has stayed in the rotation as the Lady Vols also wear their traditional white uniform with orange lettering and piping down the side and “Smokey Grey” uniform with orange lettering and piping down the side during weekend series.