Tennessee Volunteers: Weekend Sports Update

Jan 15, 2013; Lexington, KY, USA; Tennessee Volunteers guard Jordan McRae (52) during the game against the Kentucky Wildcats in the second half at Rupp Arena. Kentucky defeated Tennessee 75-65. Mandatory Credit: Mark Zerof-USA TODAY Sports

Baseball

The Volunteers took on the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in the opening game of the USA baseball tournament on Friday, in Cary, NC. The Vols fell to the Irish 3-2 in 12 innings, their second extra inning affair of the season.

Zack Godley pitched a solid 8.1 innings, giving up only run. Tennessee held the lead going into the bottom of the ninth, but Notre Dame tied the game with a two-out single. Trevor Bettencourt would then give up the game winning single to Ryan Bull in the bottom of the 12th.

The Loss drops Tennessee to 3-6 on the season. The Vols will take on Massachusetts Saturday at 3:00 pm est, and Virginia Tech Sunday at 12:00 pm est.

Projected Starters Saturday:

Tennessee: LHP Andy Cox (1-1, 6.48)

Massachusetts: Connor LeBlanc (0-0, 0.00)

Projected Starters Sunday:

Tennessee: RHP Aaron Quillen (0-0, 3.38)

Virginia Tech: RHP Devin Burke (0-0, 0.66)

Softball

The Lady Vols started the weekend off with three consecutive wins. The ladies are taking part in the Buccaneer invitational in North Charleston, SC. Tennessee began the tournament on Friday with a 9-1 win over UNC-Wilmington. Erin Gabriel picked up her third win of the season, pitching five innings of two-hit ball.

In the second game of the day the Lady Vols beat the hosting team, Charleston Southern, 8-1. The game was scoreless until the fifth inning, when Tennessee opened the floodgates, scoring seven runs. Tennessee would add another run in the top of the sixth, and Ivy Renfroe collected her sixth win of the season, improving to 6-1.

Tennessee took the field early Saturday morning to take on UNC-Wilmington once again. The Lady Vols continued their strong hitting, and dominant pitching, winning the game easily 9-0. Cheyanne Tarango picked up the win (3-1) while pitching five shutout innings and giving up only one hit.

The Lady Vols take on the Valparaiso on Saturday and Charleston Southern again on Sunday.  We’ll have the full weekend recap on Monday morning.

Women’s Basketball

The Lady Vols have already won the SEC, and will take on the Kentucky Wildcats in the regular season finale. The Lady Vols (23-5, 14-1 SEC) are riding a six game winning streak, after an impressive win over Texas A&M.

Tennessee and Kentucky will tip off at 3:30 pm est at Memorial Coliseum in Lexington, KY. The game will be broadcast on ESPNU.  We’ll have a full recap of the game Sunday evening.

Men’s Basketball

The Volunteers are set to take on the Georgia Bulldogs Saturday at 1:45 pm est. The men are also riding a six game winning streak. You can check out our full game preview here.