'T Club Team:

Random musings as the Fighting Voltellos get Game 1 of the final season series:


THE USUAL SUSPECTS ... Were the heroes of last night's win over the Gamecocks. C-Mo hit two solos that might have made it to the Tennessee River. Dylan Dreiling went yard and so did Kavares Tears. A.J. Causey did his thing in front of a great crowd at The Lindsey.

THE WAIT ON THE OTHER A.J. ... Will continue past this series for A.J. Russell. It was expected that the big righthander would do a short stint against South Carolina but he is inactive for the series. He has not appeared since he left the Ole Miss game on March 23. The next opportunity is the SEC tourney next week in Hoover.


THE CHAZ LANIER WAIT ... Might take even longer. He's one of the top transfers still uncommitted and On3 is still giving Tennessee a slight lean over Kentucky. As has been said many times, he lifts the floor and ceiling for Rick Barnes' 10th Tennessee team.


THE PRIMETIME KICKOFF IN CHARLOTTE ... As the Volunteers play North Carolina State on Sept. 7 will make for a late night drive back to the Volunteer State for the members of Vol Nation who don't stay over in the Queen City. For those that drive home, The Dean and his cast of characters will no doubt take you home on the Garza Fifth Quarter show.
LADY VOLS HOST THE NCAA REGIONAL ... This weekend and #3 seed Tennessee is heavily favored to win the double-elimination format at The Sherri. Dayton is the opponent this afternoon and assuming a win, UT will play the winner of Virginia vs. Miami of Ohio. If victorious, the Lady Vols would host the Super Regional next weekend, probably against either Alabama or Clemson. Secondary market tickets are nearing the $100 mark for today's game.

THE MEN'S TENNIS TEAM ... Fought valiantly but lost to Texas last night in the Elite Eight, but they don't call it that for some reason. Kadoos to Chris Woodruff for another outstanding season.


LADY VOL TENNIS COACH ALISON OJEDA ... Made a great appearance on The Show of Record this week and her 16th-seed squad is hoping to spring the upset of #8-seed UCLA tonight in Stillwater, OK.


Orange Throat'

'Voltellos take game one vs South Carolina

No. 1 Tennessee hit four home runs en route to a 9-3 victory over South Carolina to begin the final series of the regular season Thursday night at Lindsey Nelson Stadium.


Christian Moore was the star of the game, going 3-for-4 with two home runs, three runs scored and two RBIs. C Mo now leads the SEC in all three triple crown categories (batting average, home runs and RBIs) in league play.

The Volunteers improved to 20-8 in SEC play and 43-10 overall. They’ll go for their 9th consecutive SEC series victory Friday night.


South Carolina’s Ethan Petry’s solo home run in the top of the 1st gave the Gamecocks an early 1-0 lead but it wouldn’t last.


Christian Moore led off the bottom of the inning with a no-doubter over the batter’s eye in centerfield. Already Tennessee’s career home runs leader, the solo blast set a new school record for long balls in a season with 25.


C Mo led off the bottom of the 3rd inning with yet another solo home run over the batter’s eye in centerfield to put the Vols up 2-1.


After back-to-back 2-out walks, Kavares Tears broke the game open with a 3-run opposite field shot into the left field porches to make it 5-1.


The Gamecocks finally got Moore out in the bottom of the 4th as he lined out to 2nd base. Initially, Cal Stark was doubled up at 1st base on the play but it was overturned on review.


Blake Burke then doubled on a 1-hopper off the wall in left centerfield to score Stark from 1st and give the Vols a 6-1 lead.


South Carolina’s Cole Messina — the SEC’s best catcher — did his best C Mo impersonation with a leadoff solo home run over the batter’s eye to begin the 6th inning.


The Gamecocks threatened in the 7th with two on for 3-hole hitter Blake Jackson but he flew out just shy of the warning track in left field to end the frame.


Moore then nearly led off the bottom of the 7th with his 3rd home run of the game. Instead, it was the longest single of his career as his fly ball hit the base of the wall down the right field line.


It looked like the Gamecocks got a strike ‘em out, throw ‘em out double play when Burke struck out and Moore was called out trying to steal 2nd but MOore was ruled safe after review.


Billy Amick then doubled down the left field line to bring Moore home.


Dylan Dreiling’s 2-run bomb to centerfield made it 9-1.


It was Dreiling’s 17th home run of the season and 10th in SEC play.


South Carolina got a run across in the top of the 8th after chasing AJ Causey from the game.
Causey went 5.1 innings after replacing starter Chris Stamos to begin the 3rd. Causey gave up two runs on six hits while striking out eight and walking just one to earn his 10th win of the season.


Kirby Connell recorded the final five outs.


I'll be at Calhoun's On The River with Tony today ... Come on down..

@Mattdixon3'

'On3 Projections: 1) KENTUCKY 2) ARKANSAS 3) N Carolina 4) TENNESSEE ( S Miss, Illinois, Austin Peay) 5) TEXAS A&M 6) Clemson (ALABAMA) 7) GEORGIA 8) Wake Forest 9) Oregon St 10) Florida St 11) Indiana St 12) Oklahoma 13) E Carolina ( Duke, UNCW, Niagra) 14) MISS ST 15) Virginia ( S CAROLINA) 16) Ucsb ( VANDERBILT)

Ole Miss ( One of first four out) Florida, LSU ( 2 of next four out) Auburn, Missouri ( Out Out)


Vols non league opponents in field:

High Point ( Vols beat 7-4 on Feb 27 at LNS) Illinois ( Vols swept 6-3, 24-1, 8-3 March 8-10 at LNS) Kansas St ( Vols beat 15-5 Mar 5 at LNS) Bowling Green ( Vols swept 11-1, 12-1, 16-6 March 1-3 at LNS) #12 Oklahoma (Beat Vols 5-1 Feb 17 in Arlington Classic)

D1 Projections: 1) KENTUCKY 2) TENNESSEE ( W Virginia, Xavier, Bryant) 3) ARKANSAS 4) TEXAS A&M 5) N Carolina ( ALABAMA) 6) Clemson ( S CAROLINA) 7) GEORGIA 8) Wake Forest ( VANDERBILT) 9) Florida St 10) Oklahoma 11) Indiana St 12) E Carolina 13) Oregon St 14) MISS ST 15) Virginia ( Ucsb, Coastal Carolina, Columbia) 16) Oklahoma St

Ole Miss ( One of first 4 out) Florida, LSU, Auburn, Mizzou ( OUT OUT)


Vols Non league opponents in field:

Kansas St ( Vols beat 15-5 March 5 at LNS) High Point ( Vols beat 7-4 Feb 27 at LNS) Illinois ( Vols swept 6-3, 24-1, 8-3 March 8-10 at LNS) Bowling Green ( Vols swept 11-1, 12-1, 16-6 March 1-3 at LNS) #10 Oklahoma ( Beat Vols 5-1 Feb 17 at Arlington Classic)


Notable: Don't let the Rebels win one. Don't let the Rebels get hot. Could we have a 2022 repeat in 2024 for Ole Miss? The Rebels are the closest of the 5 SEC teams currently not projected to make the tournament to being in the field. That could change if they lose a couple games at LSU this weekend. It's a battle between the last two national champions in Baton Rouge that might put the winner close to being in the field while pretty much eliminating the loser.


Georgia has played their way into the top 8, along with Chase Burns led Wake Forest. This means that if the Vols have to face either one, the matchup would have to wait until Omaha, assuming all parties get there. Breathe a huge sigh of relief. It's all just a projection right now, of course.


I think only 6 teams in the SEC can feel secure about getting a tournament bid. And they all are projected to host at least a regional. The top four teams in the SEC are the top four seeds in the D1 projection. Teams 7-12 in the SEC could all be sitting on the bubble. SC, at 13-14 in the league, probably needs at least 1 win at Tennessee to feel safe about their inclusion. 12-15 Vanderbilt may need to take 2/3 at Kentucky, who is currently projected to be the #1 overall seed. 11-16 Ole Miss is at 10-17 LSU, which I mentioned above. 11-16 Florida has to win at least 2 games AT red hot Georgia, then they probably need more wins next week at Hoover. Alabama, at 12-15 in league, plays at last place Auburn. So the Tide should feel pretty good about their chances to get to 14 or 15 league wins.


Thanks for reading along


Brian'

Lady Vols Head Coach Alison Ojeda Joined Your Tony Basilio Show and offered the following thoughts.

On Defeating #1 Ok State In Stillwater In Round of 16 'We're so excited. That was so much more than a win. It's been too long for Tennessee tennis. What these gals did will stick with them for the rest of their life.'


Ojeda With More On The Psychology Of Upsetting #1 Ok State There: 'I saw a tremendous opportunity a couple weeks ago in the draw came out that we were 16 and we got to host the first two rounds you know you had to do coming in for the second round they're good team they're only I think they're 20 in the country maybe 21. We knew we had a tremendous opportunity to beat them. On Oklahoma State they were undefeated and in a spot they weren't used to being. They were undefeated and hosting throughout. I wanted to create a distraction for them and it happened.'


Ojeda On The Huge Upset It Was For The Lady Vols To Get Here: 'The three or four minutes after the doubles point was significant. We decided to focus on ourselves. Our message was these girls across from us were no better than us. From there we forced them to execute. Oklahoma State was used to getting the doubles point all year. We knew we could get their fans to almost turn on them. Only about 3 or 4 people were cheering and that's it. You could feel it. I don't know if everyone was aware but I've been there. When our team could feel it and sensed it. Those kids started looking around and looking at each other. You could feel it coming.'

TLD Logistics Tennessee Baseball Report: Previewing South Carolina: Jack Veltri Gamecocks Central Joined Breaking The Gamecocks Down Scientifically.

Carolina was swept last week by Georgia. No games were really close.

USC looked like a sure host a few weeks ago and now needs something positive going into the tournament.

Veltri On The Way The Season Has Played Out: This has been a roller coaster. They took 2-3 from Kentucky and were in Super Regional hosting territory and now 2-3 in Knoxville to have a shot to host just a regional.


Carolina's Issue Has Been Pitching: 'The pitching staff has been a let down. They replaced a majority of guys from super regional team. With Georgia they got no length which forced them to start Gainey who was their closer.'


On What To Expect From Gamecock Hitters: 'Parker Nolan from Knoxville played at Vanderbilt. They're pretty good 1-9 with the bats. They've gone offense first. Petrie was inserted. They have speed in the 3 hole over power. Brinley the leadoff hitter has come out of nowhere.'


On Seeing Georgia Steamroll SC: 'That was really something to see live. Condon is going to be a star. South Carolina just got hammered and had no answers getting those guys out. It's tough when you play a series where everything went wrong.'


On What SC Is Trying To Accomplish In Knoxville: 'Carolina needs a sign of life. Nothing is off the table here. Carolina could get swept if they pitch the way they did last weekend.'


Vetri On SC's Game One Thursday Starter: 'Game one is Roman Kimble from Notre Dame. Coming off Tommy John. Command was an issue and became more of a struggle. Ty Goode will get the ball after that. Kimble only went 1/3 of an inning vs Georgia. He can struggle at times with control. When he doesn't he's pretty good.'

Game Two Starter Eli Jones RHP 6-1 200: 'Was really good to start the season but has been struggling on Fridays or game two's over the past 3 starts.' He had a 3.47 Era through his first 10 starts. Since then his ERA has ballooned to 15.40 over the past 3 games. Not good.


Game Three Starter Garrett Gainey (LHP): 'Gainey has been very good in game threes and was last weekend. He was a starter at Liberty and before that pitched at Radford.' Gainey whose only made one start on the year, was a closer for SC before making the transition. His starting duties mean that SC will have closer by committee. Gainey has a 3.29 ERA while teams hit .231 against him.

Closer By Committee .. Watch Out For: 'South Carolina now has a closer by committee including Chris Vische. Carolina gave up 10 runs in the 8th and 9th inning in a 4-3 game. They imploded 14-6.'


Jack Veltri's Pick To Click This Weekend For The Gamecocks: 'If I had to pick one guy to a good weekend. I'll go with Ethan Petry. Carolina is up against it with 13 wins. This is the time for an All American type to step up with.' The right fielder Petry has a .271 average in SEC play with a .973 OPS. He's stroked 8 SEC homeruns.


Chris Burke Saw The Vols Last Week For ESPN And Breaks The Vols Down: Though Vols Are #1 Some Point To Offensive Flaws: 'It's that old thing that two things can be true at once. Those feeling uneasy about Tennessee's offense are justified. Being as good as 2022's offense isn't a precursor to winning it. It's also true you went on the road to beat Vanderbilt is huge. 8 straight series wins is huge too. Meanwhile some of those guys haven't performed well offensively recently while some other guys have evened out. Look at Curley, Tears and even a guy like Starks. Those guys will hit but they're fielding so well. Tears played a world class right field while Curley has been excellent for a freshman in the field,' Burke said.


Burke On DH Eyesore: 'I go back to this. And I've been telling you this during our time on the air when you watch coaches or managers or whatever you want to call them.. How you manage the game gives you answers. The fact that Villeneuve got his first start since April 8th tells you everything you need to know about what's going on there. (BTW Colby Backus started at DH Tuesday vs Belmont).'


On Billy Amick & If UT Could DH Him Some In The Postseason: 'I'll answer it this way ... In a draft year ... These studies on pitch counts or arm care with various studies. Why did Tim Corbin pull Carter Holton after 105 pitches last weekend? These guys are protecting and promoting position players in draft years. There's a lot that goes with dealing with star players in college baseball. Head coaches are forced to deal with things we don't see. So my answer is no you don't do that with Billy Amick.'


Burke On Using Another Third Starter In The Postseason: 'Is Tennessee going to keep doing the opener on Friday and Sunday. It's interesting. Will they keep doing that? They like Snead out of the bullpen. If you get into game 7 in a regional. What then?

'Tennessee has won 8 straight series with this approach and your pitching staff is capable of doing that with Russell coming back you have to feel bullish. I see Causey looking better, Snead as well. Tennessee has the 4th best pitching staff in the country for a reason.'


Burke On Who's In Trouble In SEC Coming Into The Weekend: 'We did a graphic on all the bubble teams. Florida and LSU. Ole Miss & LSU are in a cage match. Is Vanderbilt safe at 12. No. Bama has Auburn and needs to win that series to get to 14. If Florida beats Georgia they deserve to get in.'


Burke On Florida's Jac Caglianone Comments Regarding Kentucky's Cheering And That It Should Be Outlawed: 'Come on man. Your not allowed to have fun? They cut out the off field stuff because that could lead to fights. But you can't take that (cheering, chants etc) out of the game. Florida is very professional in their approach and Mingione is not there to be your friend and he's fine with it. It's two different styles of baseball.'

Matt Dixon Retorts: 'Kentucky is my pick to get to Oklahoma City (home of softball world series) with those antics.'

I am at peace with the revised college football recruiting calendar. For me selfishly I guess, it is all about Tennessee athletics content and the ability to shorten the bridge from one football season to another. For the longest time Tennessee athletics have been sort of ho-hum and that bridge has seemed like the Bridge to Nowhere. First Rick Barnes came along and made the basketball team interesting again. Then he was outdone by Tony Vitello and the BaseVols who season in and out are competing for championships. Baseball season ends in mid-June or later if we are really lucky.


Getting Acclimated To The New Normal: On the new football recruiting calendar, June is the new January. It's arguably the most active month of the cycle. More and more prospects take official visits in June and then announce their college decisions in July or just before the start of their senior season. This is the new recruiting normal. With this new recruiting calendar that spans June until late July, I now have some kind of Tennessee athletics related content to pay attention to year-round. And this pleases me.


June Is Moving Month: Tennessee expects to get a lot of its recruiting work done in June this recruiting cycle.

The NCAA allows up to 56 official visitors each recruiting cycle. Official visit counting is inexact to be sure, but by my count, Tennessee will be hosting between 30 and 35 official visitors in June. Tennessee wants to avoid the situation it found itself in last recruiting cycle. After productive months of June and July, Tennessee sputtered and lost all of its recruiting momentum. Tennessee lost out on prospect after prospect going 110 days between football commitments. What was more impactful though is Tennessee seemed to be left without a viable back up plan at many positions.

This cycle seems different in that respect. Tennessee has cast a wider recruiting net in hopes of avoiding a repeat of last year’s 110-day commitment drought.

Tennessee is involved with more linemen and wide receivers and has already made the decision to host more prospects at these positions than last cycle.


Tennessee sits on 9 commitments as of today. 5 committed prospects are projected to play offense. 3 of the commitments are from within the state of Tennessee.


Tennessee is off to a pretty good start. Let’s take a position-by-position look.


Tennessee Offensive Recruiting By Position To This Point: Quarterback: Tennessee is done at quarterback this cycle. Brentwood, Tennessee’s George McIntyre committed in January. He was their #1 target for this cycle. Job well done.


Tight End: Tennessee is done at tight end this recruiting cycle. Jack Van Dorselaer, a 4-star tight end from Southlake Carroll, Texas, committed to Tennessee in January. By signing day, fans will forget how important getting a commitment from a consensus 4-star, 6’5” 235 lb. tight end is. He is perfect for the Tennessee offense. Van Dorselaer is a multi-sport athlete, he runs well, and he is a willing blocker (very important for a Tennessee tight end to have that mindset).


Tennessee is hosting tight end DaSaahn Brame, a highly sought after 4-star prospect from Derby, Kansas, on an official visit. While I do think Brame is intrigued by Tennessee’s use of the tight end in so many different ways, it is hard to imagine that Brame does not commit to Oregon by the end of June.


Running Back: De’Rail Sims replaced Jerry Mack as Tennessee’s running back coach prior to spring practice. Jerry Mack had a good eye for talent and was an excellent developer of talent. Naturally, during the transition from Mack to Sims, running back recruiting took a slight step backwards. The good news is that running back Justin Baker from Buford High School, Georgia, who committed to Jerry Mack in October, remains committed to Tennessee. Pay no attention to Baker’s current star rating. He is massively under-ranked. He will be a challenge for Tennessee to hold on to until signing day.


Tennessee will sign another running back in the 2025 class. The name that seems to stand out right now is Baylor School (Chattanooga) running back Shekai Mills-Knight.

Mills-Knight, who takes an official visit to Tennessee in June, is built similarly to Cam Seldon. Tennessee has seemed to prioritize Mills-Knight’s recruitment after seeing him in person during the evaluation period.


Tennessee is recruiting two Cleveland, Ohio, area running backs in Marquise Davis and Bo Jackson. Davis is a Kentucky commitment but has scheduled an official visit to Tennessee in June. Another running back on the board is Todd Robinson from Valdosta, Georgia. Tennessee trails Georgia for Robinson.


Wide Receiver: Tennessee is off to a nice start here. Josh Heupel and wide receivers coach Kelsey Pope have already secured commitments from two of its top wide receiver targets: Joakim Dodson (Collierville) and Radarious Jackson (Memphis). Both prospects could choose to play college football at most any school in the south or any part of the country for that matter. They choose to play for their home state school. Both are excellent prospects now and their best football is ahead of them.


I still think Tennessee signs at least two more wide receivers. Kelsey Pope has put together a recruiting board that is deep, talented, and coveted by schools in the major football conferences who run up tempo offenses. Cam Sparks from the Baylor School in Chattanooga is on that recruiting board. I once believed Sparks would be committed to Tennessee by Memorial Day. However, now I’m not even certain Sparks is part of Tennessee’s signing class. Just goes to show you how fickle recruiting can be.


Tennessee is locked in a battle with Georgia for two of the state of Georgia’s top wide receivers. Westlake’s Travis Smith and Savannah’s Thomas Blackshear. Tennessee probably leads for Smith and trails George for Blackshear. We’ll know about Blackshear soon. He is scheduled to announce his decision on Sunday, the 12th .


Additionally a pair of five-star wide receivers have scheduled official visits in June to Tennessee.

Caleb Cunningham from Mississippi and Jaime Ffrench from Florida. Cunningham is the more realistic target for Tennessee. Also, Bishop Gorman Las Vegas’ Derek Meadows and Mater Dei Santa Ana, California’s Marcus Harris have confirmed official visits. Both are elite wide receiver talents (top 100 -150 prospects nationally). Tennessee is a dark horse for both. With that said, I wouldn’t be surprised to see one of the two as part of Tennessee’s class.


Tennessee is also continuing to evaluate wide receiver / athlete Kolbe Harmon from Brentwood Academy. Harmon is built along the lines of Squirrel White. He has elite level speed and could contribute on either side of the ball and special teams. Just one to keep an eye on.

Offensive Line: As of May, Tennessee doesn’t have a single offensive lineman committed. With the graduation losses after the 2024 season, Tennessee has a lot of work to do at this position. Tennessee internally feels really good about the work the recruiting and coaching staff have done this cycle. They should. You look at the offensive linemen that have scheduled official visits, or are planning to, and it’s a really nice group.

This sounds strikingly similar to the messaging from the last recruiting cycle. Top rated offensive line prospects take Tennessee’s calls, visit the campus, and eat tons of chicken fingers while visiting. When it comes to decision time Tennessee hasn’t been able to consistently close the deal on elite level prospects. Maybe more importantly is what happens when offensive linemen do sign with Tennessee. They can’t seem to develop them into SEC offensive linemen.


Look at the 2024 projected offensive line starters. Both tackles are transfers; one guard and the center were recruited to Tennessee by Jeremy Pruitt; and it’s anyone’s guess who plays the other guard position, but it will be either a transfer, a walk on, or another player signed by Jeremy Pruitt. And the #1 lineman off the bench is a former walk on.


Tennessee did bounce back from some recruiting misses and sign a nice group of offensive lineman last recruiting cycle, but the issue of player development remains.

Most Tennessee fans know that, and you can bet that Tennessee’s rivals know this as well. You can be assured the lack of player development is being used against Tennessee in recruiting. I’m all for Tennessee signing a great offensive line class, but it’s hard to overlook these concerns.


I could see Tennessee signing up to 5 offensive lineman. Tennessee needs interior lineman and tackles.


Here's The Board: Antoni Ogumoro, interior lineman. Elgin, Oklahoma. He just wrapped up an official visit to Tennessee. By all accounts he had a great visit. Can Tennessee close here?


Jaelyne Matthews. Offensive tackle, Toms River, New Jersey. Tennessee has been leading for Matthews since February. He is a true offensive tackle. He is visiting Tennessee in June. He would be a nice pick up. Again, let’s see if Tennessee can close.


David Sanders. Offensive tackle. Let’s give some credit where credit is due. Tennessee is shooting its shot for the #1 rated offensive tackle in the country. Tennessee is neck and neck with Ohio State and Clemson for Sanders. He is visiting all three schools in June and his decision will come thereafter. Ohio State is Tennessee’s biggest competition. I do think in the case of Sanders distance from his hometown, Charlotte, North Carolina, will play a factor in his decision.


Josh Petty. Offensive tackle. Petty plans to visit Tennessee. Right now, Florida State , Clemson, and Auburn are ahead of Tennessee.


Juan Gaston. Offensive tackle. Gaston’s interest in Tennessee once seemed high. However, I’m not sure Tennessee even receives an official visit. Something has changed here. Maybe Tennessee would be best served to use this visit more wisely.


Jakobe Ward, interior offensive lineman, Savannah, GA. Tennessee has done an excellent job recruiting Ward. Two questions. Where is Ward on the recruiting board and can Tennessee close?


Jatorian Blackmon interior offensive lineman, LaGrange, GA. (see Jakobe Ward)


Dontrell Glover, interior offensive lineman, Fairburn, GA. Tennessee is in this one, but currently trails Florida State and Georgia


Nic Moore, interior offensive lineman. Jefferson County, Tennessee. He is a two-way player in high school who projects as a center in college. He is advanced in terms of strength and conditioning for a high school player. In addition to a standout football player, he is one of the state’s best in the shot put.


There is another group of offensive linemen such as Andrew Babalola; Darius Afalava; Hardy Watts; Douglas Utu, and Bobby Kanka that have either scheduled or in the process of scheduling official visits to Tennessee. These kids are from different regions of the country. Right now, I don’t see Tennessee as being much of a factor in any of these recruitments. Tennessee seems to be a hat on the table right now. The transfer portal has covered up some of the faults with Tennessee’s problems with recruiting and development of high school offensive line prospects.


Next up next week … the defense.


Until then ...


From the inner sanctum

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