Tennessee Volunteers at Alabama Crimson Tide - Weekend Series Thread

Dave Serrano's squad has a chance to get back to .500 or better in SEC play this weekend if they can travel to Tuscaloosa and pick up a series victory against the Crimson Tide.

The Vols defeated Tennessee Tech this past Tuesday at home after winning one of three against #8 Ole Miss to open conference play.  Tennessee took the lead early against TTU with a sacrifice fly from Jordan Rodgers and RBI double from Leno Ramirez to give them the 2-0 lead in the 1st.  Benito Santiago added an RBI single in the 3rd to push the lead to 3. Tennessee Tech responded in the 6th, loading the bases with no outs.  A ground ball to first allowed the Vols to get two outs after a nice tag at the plate by Santiago.  A walk and bases loaded wild pitch scored one Golden Eagle before a strikeout ended the threat.  The Vols struck back in the 8th, with Derek Lance hitting an RBI sacrifice fly, Nick Senzel drawing a bases loaded RBI walk, and Vincent Jackson driving a grand slam over the right field wall to put the Vols up 9-1.

Tennessee trails Alabama 35-73 in the all-time series.  The Vols are 7-5 against the Tide in their four series since 2011 but have not won a series since sweeping in Knoxville in 2012.

Alabama is 13-7 on the season but have dropped two straight this past week.   They won their series against then #7 ranked LSU last Saturday in a double header before dropping the final game 7-5 in Baton Rouge after leading 4-1 in the 8th inning.  The Crimson Tide were routed by UAB this past Tuesday 8-0 in Birmingham.  The only common opponent so far this season is Maryland, who Alabama defeated in two of three games to open the season.  The Vols dropped their meeting against the Terps 10-9 at the Keith LeClair Classic.

Next up for the Vols will be a six game home stand featuring mid week games next week against MTSU and UNC Asheville before hosting Kentucky in a three game series.

Tennessee Volunteers (13-7) (1-2 SEC) at #22 Alabama Crimson Tide (13-7) (2-1 SEC)

Date: Friday-Saturday March 25-26, 2016

First Pitch: 8 p.m. ET Friday, 3 p.m. ET Saturday, and 9 p.m. ET Saturday at Sewell-Thomas Stadium, Tuscaloosa, Ala.

TV: Saturday Night on the SEC Network

Live Audio: Friday, Saturday, and Saturday Night on UTSports

Internet Video: All three games on WatchESPN

Live Stats: Friday, Saturday, and Saturday Night on GameTracker

Probable Starting Pitchers:

UT LHP Zach Warren (4-0, 1.55 ERA) vs UA RHP Geoffrey Bramblett (2-0, 0.85 ERA)

UT TBA vs UA RHP Jake Walters (2-2, 2.96 ERA)

UT LHP Andy Cox (2-1, 7.33 ERA) vs UA RHP Nick Eicholtz (1-0, 0.00 ERA)

Players to Keep an Eye on:

Go Vols!

Update: Sunday's game has been moved to Saturday at 3 p.m. ET