Baseball Travels East To Face No. 18 Tennessee on Tuesday in Knoxville

Belmont (23-29, 8-16 MVC) at No. 18 Tennessee (35-17, 14-13 SEC) 

Tuesday, May 16 | 5:30 p.m. CT/6:30 p.m. ET 

SEC Network+ | iHeartRadio | Live Stats | Game Notes 

Lindsey Nelson Stadium | Knoxville, Tennessee 

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Fresh off a satisfying series win over Valparaiso to wrap up their home slate of games in 2023, the Belmont University baseball team will head east on I-40 on Tuesday to face 18th-ranked Tennessee at Lindsey Nelson Stadium in Knoxville. 

First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. ET. 

The game will be streamed on SEC Network+, with live audio play-by-play from Dr. Rich Tiner on Belmont Bruins Radio on iHeartRadio and live stats available on BelmontBruins.com. 

What's Bruin 

• Belmont is looking for their first top-25 win since 2018, when they defeated No. 8 Vanderbilt, 8-3 

• The Bruins are coming off a series win over Valparaiso at E.S. Rose Park this past weekend, falling 12-3 on Friday before bouncing back with a run-rule 13-3 win in seven innings on Saturday and a series-clinching 5-1 victory on Sunday afternoon 

• Sunday's win secured a 16-15 home record for the Bruins, marking the 15th time in the last 17 years that Belmont has finished with a winning record at home 

• Junior third baseman Mason Landers homered in his last at-bat on Sunday against the Beacons to prolong his on-base streak to 27 games entering Tuesday's contest 

• The home run was the 12th of the season for Landers, tied for the 13th-most in a single season in Belmont's NCAA-era, and kept alive a 13-game hitting streak 

• Junior outfielder Sam Slaughter homered in back-to-back games on Saturday and Sunday, giving him seven for the season. Over the last week, Slaughter is slashing .429/.529/.929 in four games with two home runs and four RBIs. 

• Tuesday's projected pitcher on the mound is left-hander Jalen Borders 

• Borders, a 2022 Second Team All-OVC selection and 2022 OVC All-Tournament Team selection, has missed most of this season with an injury suffered over Opening Weekend but made his first start since February 18 last Tuesday against Lipscomb 

• Redshirt freshman two-way player Ethan Harden tossed three scoreless innings in Sunday's win to secure his sixth save of the season. The left-hander is tied for third among freshmen in NCAA Division I in saves. 

• On Saturday, Harden collected his first career three-hit game at the plate, going 3-for-4 in the 13-3 win over Valparaiso 

• Junior shortstop Sam Kirkpatrick tallied back-to-back three-hit games on Friday and Saturday this past weekend, giving him a team-high eight games this season with three or more hits 

• Junior first baseman Brodey Heaton ranks fifth in Belmont's NCAA-era in career RBIs (149) and will start his 172nd career game on Tuesday at first base 

• Belmont's bullpen has been stellar this season, helping the Bruins go 14-0 when they hold a lead after five innings 

About the Volunteers 

• Tennessee rose five spots to No. 18 in the latest D1Baseball Top 25 after winning their series over No. 17 Kentucky at home this past weekend 

• The Volunteers rank third nationally in ERA (3.73), third in strikeouts per nine innings (11.7), third in home runs (109), and eighth in slugging percentage (.553) 

• Tennessee has won 12 of their last 15 games since being upset by Tennessee Tech on April 18 

• Tennessee was the No. 1 overall seed in last year's NCAA Tournament after going 49-7 in the regular season, but fell in the Super Regionals to Notre Dame 

• Tuesday's projected starter on the mound is LHP Zander Sechrist (0-1, 2.22 ERA) 

Series History 

• Belmont is 4-12 all-time against Tennessee, with the first meeting coming in 2000 

• The Bruins last defeated the Volunteers in 2011, 6-3, at Lindsey Nelson Stadium. It was Belmont's final midweek game of the year before they went to No. 17 Stetson and won the series in Deland, Florida, to secure a spot in the Atlantic Sun Tournament, which they won to advance to the program's first-ever NCAA Regional 

• Tennessee has won eight in a row in the series 

• In addition to 2011, Belmont also defeated Tennessee in 2004, 2005, and 2008 

Follow Belmont baseball on social media - @BelmontBaseball on Twitter and @belmontbaseball on Instagram - for complete coverage of the Bruins. Stay up to date with all of Belmont's athletic programs via the official app of the Belmont Bruins, available both in the Apple App Store and on Google Play.             

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