Tennessee

Tennessee Baseball vs. Albany Score, Updates Series Finale | Rocky Top Insider

Published

11 months ago

February 25, 2024

Press Room

Photo via Tennessee Athletics

SCORE: Vols 0, Great Danes 0 | N/A

Ninth-ranked Tennessee baseball (6-1) is hosting UAlbany baseball (0-2) Sunday in Lindsey Nelson Stadium in game three of a three-game weekend series. Tennessee won the series opener, 8-5, on Friday and throttled the Great Danes, 21-6, on Saturday.

This weekend’s series marks the first for the Vols this season, as they opened their season in the Shriners Children’s College Showdown in Arlington against three different teams. The Vols clinched the series with Saturday’s win, and now they have a chance to earn their first series sweep of the season if they were to be victorious on Sunday.

First pitch for Sunday’s game is at 1:00 p.m. ET on 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.

The Vols are looking to build off of a five-game winning streak and remain undefeated at home. Tennessee began the season 2-1 in Arlington after beating Texas Tech (6-2) and Baylor (11-5) but losing to Oklahoma (5-1; 10 innings). On Tuesday and Wednesday, the Vols swept their midweek contests against UNC Asheville (3-2) and ETSU (16-0).

UAlbany presented more of a challenge to Tennessee on Friday than anyone would have expected, but the Vols were able to flex their muscles on Saturday with a 21-run explosion. Depending on how much pitching the Great Danes have left, the series finale could be much more similar to Saturday than the series opener.

More From RTI: Takeaways From the First Week of Tennessee Baseball’s Season | RTI Press Pass

For all of RTI’s recent baseball coverage regarding the UAlbany series, in addition to the latest podcast recapping week one of the season, click here.

Lineups, pitching matchup and additional pre-game notes are below.

Starting Lineups

TENNESSEE STARTING NINE:

2B Christian Moore (R)

1B Blake Burke (L)

3B Billy Amick (R)

CF Kavares Tears (L)

DH Cannon Peebles (S)

LF Robin Villeneuve (R)

RF Dalton Bargo (L)

SS Dean Curley (R)

C Cal Stark (R)

Lineup Notes:

Bargo gets his first OF start after having a great day on Saturday at the plate as DH.
Tears stays in center, Robin stays in left.
NO Ensley OR Dreiling today for the first time.
Moore continues to leadoff.
Fourth straight start for Curley at shortstop.
Cal Stark gets the nod behind the plate for the second time in the series. Peebles moves to DH.
Burke moves up the order after having a great series and in the absence of Dreiling.

UALBANY STARTING NINE:

1B Ryan Ferremi

3B Will Binder

LF Jared Toby

DH Mike Prisco

CF Luke Filippi

C Levi McAllister

SS Cooper Loyal

RF John Vitucci

2B Luke Myers

Pitching Matchup

Vols Sr. LHP Zander Sechrist (0-0, 13.50 ERA, 1 app., 1 start, 2.0 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 1 K, .444 opp. batting avg., 2.50 WHIP)

vs.

Great Danes RS-So. LHP Thomas Quinn (2023 stats: 1-2, 5.46 ERA, 15 app., 3 starts, 29.2 IP, 41 H, 22 R, 18 ER, 15 BB, 26 K, .323 opp. batting avg., 1.89 WHIP)

Pitching notes:

Sechrist gets the nod on Sunday for a second straight week. We’ll see if he can rebound after a forgettable 2024 debut.
Expect to see RHP Nate Snead out of the bullpen today, potentially in another extended outing.
Freshmen Matthew Dallas, Derek Schaefer could see some work, as well as sophomore Andrew Behnke and JuCo transfer Marcus Phillips.

Uniforms

Tennessee: Sunday creams

UAlbany: TBD