Tennessee
What To Know About Pitching Matchup For Tennessee vs. Cincinnati In Knoxville Regional | Rocky Top Insider
Tennessee baseball earned its 10th straight home regional win Friday night, knocking off Miami (Ohio) 9-2 in a drama free win at Lindsey Nelson Stadium.
The Vols’ win sets the stage for a matchup against three-seed Cincinnati, who defeated Wake Forest 11-6 in Friday’s opener.
Right-handed pitcher Marcus Phillips is getting the ball for Tennessee after serving as a weekend starter his entire junior season. Phillips has posted a 3-4 record, 3.74 ERA and 1.27 WHIP entering the first NCAA Tournament start of his career.
The issue for Phillips has been managing the run game. SEC teams exploited Phillips’ slow delivery in the regular season with Kentucky stealing eight bases against him, Ole Miss stealing seven and two others stealing four.
Vitello wanted Phillips to be more persistent throwing over to first base while also varying his timing with runners on base. The junior has been much better with it his last two outings with neither Arkansas nor Alabama swiping a bag against him in a total of 8.1 innings pitched.
But that challenge gets much greater against Cincinnati. Arkansas and Alabama are two of the least aggressive teams on the base paths in the SEC. The Bearcats entered the weekend ranked 14th nationally in stolen bases this season.
Tennessee’s bullpen sits in a great spot behind Phillips. The Vols needed only seldom used relievers Austin Breedlove and Andrew Behnke against Miami (Ohio) and has top arms AJ Russell, Nate Snead and Brandon Arvidson fully ready to roll.
More From RTI: Everything Tennessee HC Tony Vitello Said Following NCAA Tournament Win Over Miami (Ohio)
Ace Liam Doyle helped preserve the Vols’ bullpen by tossing 6.2 innings against Miami (Ohio) Friday night. The Redhawks made him work early with the SEC Pitcher of the Year throwing 66 pitches to record his first nine outs and 38 pitches to record the next 11 outs.
“It was huge,” Vitello said. “It is about tonight, or at least was, but you do have a tournament, again, you’re in the middle of. For him to do that, not only—I’m sure he feels good about and it helped capitalize on the runs we were scoring in the middle of the game—but put us in a good position with our bullpen.”
Like Tennessee, Cincinnati has an easy decision to role with its second most used starter this season in the critical regional matchup.
“Yeah, Kellen O’Connor for sure tomorrow,” Cincinnati head coach Jordan Bischel said. ”You can put that one in stone, outside of a bus accident or something.”
O’Connor has started 11 games for the Bearcats this season, posting a 3-2 record, 4.61 ERA and 1.22 WHIP in 66.1 innings pitched. A 5-foot-10 lefty, O’Connor has done a little bit of everything for Cincinnati this season.
The Cal State Bakersfield transfer came out of the bullpen three times last week in the Big 12 Tournament allowing a total of two runs in four innings pitched. His best outing of the year came in a complete game against Texas Tech back in April.
Right-handed reliever Michael Conte (2.14 ERA in 21 innings pitched) threw 34 pitches on Friday while right-handed pitcher Adam Buczkowski (5.68 ERA in 31.2 innings) threw 12 pitches.
Tennessee
Is Taco Bell open on Easter? What’s open and closed in Tennessee
How countries around the world celebrate Easter
Easter is marked very differently around the globe.
unbranded – Lifestyle Vertical
If Easter Sunday snuck up on you and your fridge is empty, you’re not alone, and many restaurants will be open, providing convenient options for a holiday meal without the stress.
Amidst egg hunts, church services, and family visits, preparing a full Easter meal isn’t always feasible. However, this doesn’t mean the day has to be dull.
Most restaurants choose to stay open on Easter Sunday, but several choose to close instead and let employees enjoy the day. There are also restaurants closed every Sunday, so don’t expect any fresh chicken minis from Chick-fil-A in any Easter baskets.
Here are the restaurants that will be open and closed on Easter Sunday in Tennessee.
When is Easter 2026?
Easter Sunday will fall on April 5 in 2026.
The earliest date Easter can be is March 22, so while it may feel early this year compared to last year’s April 20, the holiday is right on time.
What restaurants are open for Easter 2026?
Most national chain restaurants will remain open throughout the state. For smaller chain eateries or popular local spots, it is advisable to call in advance to verify their Sunday operating hours.
What fast-food restaurants are open on Easter 2026?
Most national chains will still be open across Tennessee for the holiday. As for smaller chains or local hot spots, it is recommended to call ahead to confirm their hours on Sunday.
Are any restaurants closed on Easter?
While not many chain restaurants and fast food spots close on Easter Sunday, there are still a few you won’t be able to dine at:
Jordan Green covers trending news for The Commercial Appeal and Tennessee. She can be reached at jordan.green@commercialappeal.com.
Tennessee
Watch Reese Chapman’s unbelievable catch for Tennessee baseball vs LSU
Tennessee baseball right fielder Reese Chapman made one of the most unbelievable catches of the season to rob LSU of a home run.
In the top of the fifth inning, LSU’s Steven Milam smoked a 1-1 pitch from Landon Mack to deep right field. Chapman sprinted toward the wall.
The ball was headed out of the ballpark when Chapman leaped, caught the ball and slammed into the wall. He held on to end the inning, triggering a wild celebration by Mack and the UT dugout.
It was a critical play for the Vols midway through Game 1 of their LSU series on April 3 at Lindsey Nelson Stadium.
“I don’t know if we’re going to see a better one than that, boys,” said ESPN analyst Chris Burke, a former Tennessee baseball player. “It’s not just the play that he made.. It’s the complete disregard for your own body.”
Chapman almost single-handedly put Tennessee in the driver’s seat. He not only robbed LSU of a home run in the fifth, he also hit a home run to put the Vols ahead.
In the bottom of the fourth inning, Blake Grimmer blooped a single to left-center. Then Chapman pulled a 0-1 pitch over the right-field wall for a two-run homer. It was his third home run of the season, putting Tennessee ahead 3-1.
Adam Sparks is the Tennessee beat reporter. Email adam.sparks@knoxnews.com. X, formerly known as Twitter@AdamSparks. Support strong local journalism by subscribing at knoxnews.com/subscribe.
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Tennessee
Americans would be ‘up at night worrying’ if they knew the truth about alien life, Tennessee Rep. Tim Burchett says
Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.) said the American people would be “up at night worrying” if they knew what he’s been briefed on about extraterrestrial life.
“I’ve been briefed by just about every alphabet agency there is. And, I’ll just say this, if they were to release the things that I’ve seen, you’d be up at night, worrying about, thinking about this stuff,” Burchett told Newsmax host Rob Finnerty on Wednesday.
Burchett — a member of the House Task Force on the Declassification of Federal Secrets — recalled that he was briefed two weeks ago “on an issue” about extraterrestrial life that “would have set the Earth” on fire and “unglued” the country if released.
“They would demand answers,” Burchett said without going into further detail.
When Finnerty played a clip of former Rep. Matt Gaetz alleging knowledge of alien-human hybrid breeding programs, Burchett stopped short of directly addressing the explosive claims.
“I’m still a member of Congress, so I can’t really comment too much on what Matt said,” Burchett told Finnerty.
“Wait, seriously?” Finnerty slightly pushed back.
“I’m being 100% serious,” Burchett replied.
Burchett said that he has advocated for “full disclosure” despite the potential impact the truth could have on the public.
“The public has a right to know, dadgummit, it’s your tax dollars. Let’s get it out there,” he said.
Burchett also said that the people handling these sensitive matters are at the heart of the issue.
“When I’m in a meeting, in a closed-door meeting, and I ask about the president’s points on these. And then I’m told by some arrogant, unelected bureaucrat that the president is on a need-to-know basis. I think that says everything it needs to be said about what’s going on,” he told Finnerty.
The congressman said he’s described the handling of sensitive information to President Trump as “layers of the onion,” with each peeled away revealing “another one underneath.”
“When I sit in a meeting, and some little punk with a man bun is sort of running the show, and you have decorated officer military officers in the meeting there that are basically unallowed to say anything, and you can read their faces,” he shared.
Burchett also weighed in on the alarming string of disappearances and deaths among the country’s top researchers in the field — including the mysterious disappearance of retired Air Force Gen. William McCasland in February and his former colleague, rocket scientist Monica Reza, eight months earlier.
“There are no coincidences in this town. These folks have disappeared or died mysteriously,” he said. “I think overall, I think there is a connection there. People just do not disappear … not in this day and age.”
“For the record, I’m not suicidal, and I don’t take risks,” he added.
Burchett’s remarks follow President Trump’s vow in February to direct the Pentagon and other agencies to release files on UFOs and “alien and extraterrestrial life” to the public.
“Based on the tremendous interest shown,” the president wrote, “I will be directing the Secretary of War, and other relevant Departments and Agencies, to begin the process of identifying and releasing Government files related to alien and extraterrestrial life, unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP), and unidentified flying objects (UFOs), and any and all other information connected to these highly complex, but extremely interesting and important, matters.”
Since the president’s statement, the US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency has registered the domains aliens.gov and alien.gov, according to People.
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