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Tennessee entered the ninth inning of Friday's game against Georgia down two runs and needing to win out and get help from Vandy to make the SEC Tournament. The Vols put together three runs in that inning, and another three run ninth Saturday to survive and get the series victory over Georgia. Vandy managed to hold on Saturday against Auburn and send the Tigers home and the Vols to Hoover.
Today's game will mark the 15th SEC Tournament appearance for the Vols. It is also the third straight appearance for Tennessee, the first time since the 90's that has happened. They hold a 25-23 record over the years in the tournament and own three titles ('93, '94, '95).
LSU are making their 31st SEC Tournament appearance. They own an SEC leading 74-39 record all time in the Tournament and eleven titles.
Tennessee hosted LSU for a three game series in Knoxville a few weeks back where the Tigers took all three games. The Vols lost close games in the opener and closer (1-2 and 7-10) but were blasted in the Saturday game 3-11.
LSU leads the all-time series with UT 55-22. The Vols and Tigers have met three times in the SEC Tourney, with LSU winning the meetings in 1996 (1-3) and 1997 (5-12) while Tennessee took the last meeting in 2005 (5-1).
The winner of tonight's game will advance to the double elimination stage of the tournament tomorrow and will play the 4th seeded Florida Gators in the final game of the day.
Last night the SEC announced their baseball awards for this season and two Volunteers were honored. Nick Senzel was named Second Team All-SEC at third base while Derek Lance was tabbed the SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year. Senzel was also named as the Player of the Week for his performance over the past week.
Tennessee Volunteers (29-27) (9-21 SEC) vs #7 LSU Tigers (39-17) (19-11 SEC)
Date: Tuesday May 24, 2016
First Pitch: 9 p.m. ET at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium, Hoover, AL
TV: SEC Network
Live Audio: UTSports
Internet Video: WatchESPN
Live Stats: SECSports
Probable Starting Pitchers: UT RHP Will Neely (1-3, 4.27 ERA) vs LSU LHP Jake Latz (0-1, 5.40 ERA)
Players to Keep an Eye on:
| School | Pos | Name | BA | RBI | R | HR | SB-A |
| UT | 3B | Nick Senzel | .354 | 59 | 56 | 8 | 24-28 |
| UT | OF | Vincent Jackson | .340 | 56 | 42 | 8 | 7-11 |
| UT | 1B | Jordan Rodgers | .282 | 55 | 36 | 4 | 12-13 |
| UT | OF | Chris Hall | .302 | 22 | 47 | 0 | 11-12 |
| UT | 2B | Derek Lance | .335 | 24 | 32 | 0 | 8-12 |
| LSU | OF | Antoine Duplantis | .335 | 35 | 41 | 2 | 12-19 |
| LSU | OF | Jake Fraley | .332 | 30 | 53 | 3 | 24-32 |
| LSU | 2B | Cole Freeman | .331 | 23 | 41 | 1 | 24-33 |
| LSU | SS | Kramer Robertson | .321 | 33 | 52 | 1 | 13-17 |
| LSU | C | Jordan Romero | .301 | 40 | 23 | 9 | 0-1 |
| School | Arm | Name | ERA | WHIP | K | BAA | W-L (S) |
| UT | RHP | Will Neely | 4.27 | 1.38 | 26 | .263 | 1-3 |
| UT | RHP | Jon Lipinski | 5.40 | 1.67 | 26 | .300 | 3-1 (3) |
| LSU | LHP | Jake Latz | 5.40 | 1.80 | 6 | .308 | 0-1 |
| LSU | RHP | Hunter Newman | 2.10 | 0.97 | 32 | .167 | 0-0 (6) |
Go Vols!