Tennessee Baseball vs. South Carolina Score, Updates SEC Tournament | Rocky Top Insider

SCORE: Tennessee 0, South Carolina 0 | PREGAME

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

No. 23 Tennessee baseball (37-19, 15-15 SEC) is set to battle the South Carolina Gamecocks (22-34, 7-23 SEC) Tuesday in the first round of the SEC Tournament. The game serves as the third game in Hoover overall.

First pitch at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium is at 5:30 p.m. ET on the SEC Network.

Vanderbilt-Kentucky 12-13 game is running long. The Tennessee game will start afterward. Official start time TBD.

Tennessee enters the SEC Tournament playing its best baseball of the season. The Vols are coming off back-to-back series wins over (then) Top-5 Texas and Oklahoma on the road.

Read recaps of all three games in Oklahoma City this past weekend below.

GAME ONE RECAP: Tennessee Baseball Wins Back-And-Forth Series Opener At Oklahoma

GAME TWO RECAP: Tennessee Baseball Outlasts Oklahoma To Claim Weekend Series

GAME THREE RECAP: Tennessee Baseball’s Comeback Bid Falls Short in Game Three Loss to Oklahoma

Since the Mississippi State series opener, Tennessee’s offense has been good to great, with only four bad performances across the 18 contests.

While hosting a regional is a long shot, Tennessee could position itself to enter the conversation with an SEC Tournament Finals appearance. As the 10-seed in the tournament, the Vols would need to win four games to make it to Sunday.

BRACKETOLOGY: Where Tennessee Baseball Is Projected In Field of 64 Brackets Ahead Of SEC Tournament

While Tennessee is playing its best ball of the season, the injury bug has begun to hit the Vols over the last couple of weeks.

Starting pitcher Landon Mack has been dealing with arm soreness and missed the last two series. His status is ‘day-to-day’ in the SEC Tournament and he is on the travel roster, but it remains to be seen when or if Mack will return this season.

Monday, star senior outfielder Reese Chapman took a line drive off the face and is out Tuesday against South Carolina. His Hoover status is in question, and the Vols hope to at least have one of their best bats back for the start of the NCAA Tournament.

INJURY: Tennessee Baseball OF Reese Chapman Suffers Injury Ahead Of SEC Tournament

If Tennessee beats South Carolina, the Vols will advance to play 7-seed Arkansas Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. ET. If Tennessee makes it through Wednesday, UT advances to Friday to battle Texas at 4 p.m. ET.

Take a look at the full bracket for the 2026 SEC Tournament below.

HOOVER: Full SEC Baseball Tournament Bracket, Action Begins on Tuesday

Opponent Scout

South Carolina is the 15-seed in the tournament. The two sides haven’t played this season.

The Gamecocks just got swept by Vanderbilt. After firing head coach Paul Manieri a little before the halfway point of SEC play, South Carolina gained some momentum but that is not the case entering what will likely be its final game in 2026. The Gamecocks have lost 10 straight SEC games and been swept in each of the past three series.

SC owns a series sweep over Missouri and has been swept six times.

Info courtesy UT Athletics in italics

Prediction:

Tennessee beats one of the worst teams in the league and advances to Wednesday to battle Arkansas.

Offense continues to roll and Appenzeller isn’t amazing but builds off a positive relief outing last Thursday in Oklahoma.

POLLS:

• D1 Baseball: No. 23 (NR)
• USA Today Coaches Poll: No. 25 (NR)
• Baseball America: No. 20 (up four)
• Perfect Game: No. 25 (NR)
• NCBWA: No. 24 (NR)

For all of RTI’s baseball coverage so far this season, click here.

For the latest RTI Diamond Pass podcast discussing the Oklahoma series win and previewing the SEC Tournament, click HERE.

WATCH: Josh Elander Previews Tennessee’s SEC Tournament Week

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

TENNESSEE STARTING NINE: 

SOUTH CAROLINA STARTING NINE: 

2B Patrick Evans

SS KJ Scobey

C Talmadge LeCroy

DH Jake Randolph

1B Will Craddock

LF Ethan Lizama

RF Luke Yuhasz

3B Dawson Harman

CF Tyler Bak

Pitching Matchup:

Vols Fr. LHP Cam Appenzeller (5-1, 4.84 ERA, 17 app., 1 start, 1 SV, 48.1 IP, 42 H, 26 R, 26 ER, 12 BB, 54 K, 13 XBH, .236 opp. batting avg., 1.12 WHIP)

vs.

Gamecocks Jr. RHP Brandon Stone (5-4, 4.64 ERA, 16 app., 9 starts, 66.0 IP, 77 H, 37 R, 34 ER, 19 BB, 55 K, 24 XBH, .294 opp. batting avg.)

Pitching Notes:

• Appenzeller’s second start of the season. He started a midweek in a 1.0-inning opener role previously.
  • Appenzeller is coming off a solid relief appearance in the Vols’ series-opening win at Oklahoma. 2 R in 2.2 IP on 42 pitches.
  • It was a bounce back from several poor outings in a row from the freshman at the pen. Starting with the Ole Miss outing, he hit a freshman wall that included four consecutive below average to awful outings.
  • Appenzeller will be used as a true starter Tuesday in all likelihood with Tennessee hoping he can give them a true, quality start.

Uniforms

Tennessee: Orange tops, white pants

South Carolina: TBD

*NOTES*

• The run-rule is MANDATORY in SEC play. If Tennessee or South Carolina leads by 10 or more runs at the end of the seventh inning or later, the game is over.

1st Inning: 

T1

B1

Score: Vols 0, Gamecocks 0

2nd Inning: 

T2

B2

Score: Vols , Gamecocks

3rd Inning: 

T3

B3

Score: Vols , Gamecocks

4th Inning: 

T4

B4

Score: Vols , Gamecocks

5th Inning: 

T5

B5

Score: Vols , Gamecocks

6th Inning: 

T6

B6

Score: Vols , Gamecocks

7th Inning: 

T7

B7

Score: Vols , Gamecocks

8th Inning: 

T8

B8

Score: Vols , Gamecocks

9th Inning: 

T9

B9

Score: Vols , Gamecocks

FINAL: Tennessee Vols __, South Carolina Gamecocks __