After winning its last three SEC series, including a three-game road sweep of Alabama last weekend, No. 20 Texas A&M returns to Blue Bell Park to host the Tennessee Volunteers this weekend. Brigham Hill will take the ball for the Aggies in Friday’s 2 p.m. opener.
The Aggies (26-12, 8-7 SEC) began conference play with five straight losses, but have won eight of ten since then and are one of the hottest teams in the SEC heading into the weekend.
Tennessee (19-15, 4-11), meanwhile, enters the series on the heels of dropping two-of-three to Auburn last weekend. The Vols did, however, win a series on the road at No. 7 Florida two weekends ago.
Terrific relief pitching has been one of the main sparks to the Aggies’ recent success. In their 10 games played this month, the A&M bullpen has pitched to a 0.99 ERA with a 5-0 record and four saves. The trio of Kaylor Chafin, Cason Sherrod and Mitchell Kilkenny has shouldered most of the load, and Chafin has been the best of them with 9.1 scoreless innings in April.
Sherrod has surrendered only one run in 8.1 innings in three April appearances, while Kilkenny has recorded four of his team-leading five saves this month.
Tennessee boasts a potent offense led by third baseman Jordan Rodgers, who leads the team with a .375 batting average. Jeff Moberg is one of the best second basemen in the country and comes into the weekend hitting .333 with a team-high six home runs. The Vols are averaging over five runs per contest in 2017 and rank seventh in the SEC with a .283 team batting average.
Hill will try to get back on track after the Crimson Tide tagged him for eight hits and five runs in 3.2 innings last Thursday. The Vols will counter with their ace, senior Hunter Martin.
The Aggies will keep the rest of their rotation the same, with Corbin Martin taking the ball on Saturday and then Stephen Kolek tossing the Sunday series finale.
The unconventional 2 p.m. Friday afternoon start time is due to Aggie Muster on Friday night, and the Saturday and Sunday games will begin at 2 p.m. and 1 p.m., respectively. All three games will be televised on SEC Network +, with Will Johnson and Mark Johnson on the call, and can be seen through the WatchESPN app.