Florida Gators baseball heads to Tennessee for weekend series with undefeated Volunteers

Kevin O'Sullivan and the Florida baseball team are in Knoxville this weekend for a three-game series against the Tennessee Volunteers.

The Gators have won all four weekend series so far this year, including a 2-1 series win over Miami, but the SEC schedule is an entirely different beast. Florida proved that it can compete with the best of the best by handing Florida State its first loss of the season, at Dick Howser Field no less; however, facing an SEC weekend rotation is a greater challenge than getting through a midweek game with a team's fourth-best starter.

Florida is also dealing with a couple of key injuries heading into the series, including two major pieces of the lineup in outfielder Kyle Jones (out for season) and Cade Kurland (dislocated shoulder). Saturday starter Pierce Coppola will miss his second weekend in a row with what appears to be more serious than initially believed injury, and left-handed reliever Frank Menendez is also still out after last appearing in a midweek game against FAU on March 5. Both Coppola and Menendez could be out for an extended period, but the former is still seeking a second opinion on his injury.

Here's what to expect from Florida and Tennessee this weekend.

Projected Starting Lineup: Florida Gators

Pos.	Player Name	AVG	OBP	SLG	AB	R	H	HR	RBI
C	Luke Heyman	.267	.397	.400	45	10	12	2	9
1B/2B	Brendan Lawson	.333	.463	.556	63	19	21	4	19
2B/OF	Justin Nadeau	.438	.571	.531	32	9	14	0	6
3B	Bobby Boser	.328	.446	.716	67	24	22	7	25
SS	Colby Shelton	.361	.434	.583	72	15	26	2	16
LF	Blake Cyr	.333	.449	.509	57	16	19	2	8
CF	Hayden Yost	.298	.333	.439	57	13	17	0	16
RF	Ty Evans	.273	.324	.424	33	7	9	0	9
DH/C/1B	Brody Donay	.404	.547	.947	57	22	23	8	16
DH/1B	Landon Stripling	.316	.438	.447	38	12	12	1	9

Probable Starters: Game 1 - Friday (6:30 p.m. EDT)

Team	Pitcher	Record	ERA
FLORIDA	RHP Liam Peterson	4-0	0.86
TENNESSEE	LHP Liam Doyle	4-0	0.44

NOTES: The numbers say it all for Liam Peterson so far this season. He's led Florida to four wins in as many starts and has delivered three quality starts — coming up an inning short of the minimum against Dayton. He's striking out 14.5 batters per nine innings and is considered the top college arm in his draft class (2026).

Tennessee has an ace named Liam, too. A year ago, Lia Doyle was a solid arm for Ole Miss, but now he looks like the best transfer arm in the country. He's delivered the same three quality starts as Peterson and leads Division I baseball with 47 strikeouts and a 69.1% strikeout rate. Doyle threw 5 2/3 perfect innings against St. Bonaventure last week as part of Tennessee's combined no-hitter. His arsenal features a mid-to-upper-90s fastball that's touched 98.6 mph this year and generates nearly a 60% whiff rate. His slider is just as dangerous, and draws a 60% whiff rate in the zone.

Probable Starters: Game 2 - Saturday (6 p.m EDT)

Team	Pitcher	Record	ERA
FLORIDA	RHP Aidan King	3-0	0.55
TBA	RHP Marcus Phillips	1-0	1.42

NOTES: Freshman right-hander Aidan King has stepped into the No. 2 spot of the weekend rotation with Jake Clemente dealing with back problems and Pierce Coppola out indefinitely. The rookie has done nothing but deliver, but conference play can be a wake-up call for young pitchers. His numbers are just as good, if not better, than Peterson's this year, with a 0.55 ERA and 20 strikeouts to two walks over 16 1/3 innings, but Tennessee is going to hit him better than any of the midweek teams he's faced or Harvard.

Marcus Phillips has pitched into the fifth in all four Saturday starts he's made for Tennessee this year while maintaining an ERA below 1.50 and a strikeout to walk ratio above 4.00. Phillips is another high-90s fastball guy that can run it up to 99.5 mph and a plus slider around 89-90 mph. There are some documented control issues with Phillips, but he's been solid so far this season. Florida's goal should be to end his day before the fifth.

Probable Starters: Game 3 - Sunday (1 p.m. EDT)

Team	Pitcher	Record	ERA
FLORIDA	TBA	TBA	TBA
TENNESSEE	TBA	TBA	TBA

NOTES: With Jake Clemente not listed on the SEC Availability Report this week, the expectation is that he'll start on Sunday. Florida is leaving it as a "to be announced," allowing Clemente to make the call later in the weekend, but he shouldn't be expected to go more than three or four frames at most in his return. If Clemente can't go, Matthew Jenkins feels like the top option, assuming Billy Barlow is holding down the midweek starter spot and can pitch significant relief innings this weekend.

Tennessee's third starter is up in the air after allowing eight different arms to make starts this season. Brandon Arvidson is the only one of those eight to make two starts, but he's only thrown 9 1/3 total innings over seven appearances.

Other Players to Watch

Tennessee is one of the top programs in the country, so almost everyone who steps on the field is going to be talented. Out of the bullpen, junior right-handers Nate Snead (0.68 ERA, 13.1 IP) and Tanner Franklin (1.80 ERA, 10.0 IP) are the most used, and freshman right-hander Tegan Kuhns (1.59 ERA, 5.2 IP) is making a name for himself. Dylan Loy (0.00 ERA, 5.2 IP) and Brayden Sharp (1.69 ERA, 5.1 IP) are the top two lefties out of the 'pen for the Volunteers this year.

Offensively, Tennessee has five lineup regulars (14 or more games played) with an OPS over 1.000 and another just below that threshold at .985. Another handful of lineup mix-ins are hitting just as well, giving the Volunteers one of the most dangerous offenses in the country. Junior second baseman Gavin Kilen is the name to know with a .448/.577/1.034 slash line, 26 hits and eight home runs. His 22 RBIs trail only freshman designated hitter Levi Clark, who has 23 and six homers. Sophomore shortstop Dean Curley also has six home runs, and junior first baseman Andrew Fischer has seven.

Series History

OVERALL	157-97
AT HOME	84-46
AWAY	69-49
NEUTRAL	4-2

Follow the Action

FRIDAY (6:30 p.m. EDT)

Watch: SEC Network+
Listen: ESPN 98.1FM/850AM WRUF
Live Stream: fuboTV (try it free)

SATURDAY (6 p.m EDT)

Watch: SEC Network
Listen: ESPN 98.1FM/850AM WRUF
Live Stream: fuboTV (try it free)

SUNDAY (1 p.m. EDT)

Watch: SEC Network+
Listen: ESPN 98.1FM/850AM WRUF
Live Stream: fuboTV (try it free)

* Watch links go directly to game feed

Predictions

GAME 1: Florida, 5-4

GAME 2: Florida, 7-6

GAME 3: Tennessee, 8-3

It might be a bold prediction, but Florida has shown enough to get the nod in this series, even if Tennessee enters undefeated. The Gators have found a way against everyone but UCF this season, and it should be a close battle until Sunday when teams tend to run out of pitching.

Series prediction: Florida gets a big SEC series win and ascends to the No. 1 spot in the country by taking the weekend, 2-1.

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This article originally appeared on Gators Wire: Florida Gators baseball at Tennessee Volunteers series preview

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