SEC BASEBALL TOURNAMENT

With assist from Hogs, Vols play on

Starter Andy Cox of Tennessee delivers a pitch against Arkansas Friday, May 8, 2015, during the first inning at Baum Stadium in Fayetteville.
Starter Andy Cox of Tennessee delivers a pitch against Arkansas Friday, May 8, 2015, during the first inning at Baum Stadium in Fayetteville.

HOOVER, Ala. -- Tennessee can thank Arkansas, at least partially, for its presence at the SEC Tournament.

The Volunteers (24-25, 11-18 SEC) helped their own cause with a sweep of Mississippi State last weekend, but they wouldn't have qualified as the 12th seed if Arkansas (33-20, 17-12) had not won its series at Georgia to knock the Bulldogs below the Vols in the final conference standings.

TODAY’S GAME

No. 20 Arkansas vs. Tennessee

WHEN 8 p.m.

WHERE Hoover Met, Hoover, Ala.

RECORDS Arkansas 33-20, 17-12 SEC; Tennessee 24-25, 11-18 SEC

SERIES Arkansas leads 31-26

LAST MEETING Split series 1-1 in Fayetteville on May 8-10

RADIO Razorback Sports Network. Not all games will be carried by affiliates. Check local listings.

TELEVISION SEC Network

INTERNET www.arkansasrazorba…

PITCHING MATCHUP Arkansas RHP Trey Killian (2-4, 5.16 ERA), Tennessee LHP Andy Cox (3-3, 3.52)

SHORT HOPS Arkansas CF Andrew Benintendi (.415 average, 17 home runs, 51 RBI), who was named SEC player of the year Monday, hit .443 in SEC games and won the SEC batting title by 38 points over Texas A&M's Mitchell Nau (.377). ... Arkansas has not lost a series since dropping 2 of 3 against LSU on March 19-21. The Razorbacks are 7-0-1 in three-game series since then with the tie coming in a two-game split with Tennessee. ... Freshman Keaton McKinney (6-1, 2.83 ERA), an All-SEC choice, would start Wednesday against Florida if Arkansas wins tonight. ... Arkansas ranks fourth in the SEC in team batting average (.292), 10th in pitching (4.11 ERA) and second in fielding percentage (.978). Tennessee ranks 12th in batting (.264), ninth in pitching (4.05) and 12th in fielding (.969). ... All SEC Tournament games will be televised on the SEC Network except for Sunday's championship game, which will be on ESPN2.

THE WEEK AHEAD

TODAY vs. Tennessee, 8 p.m.

WEDNESDAY vs. Florida*, 8 p.m.

THURSDAY TBA

FRIDAY TBA

SATURDAY TBA

SUNDAY TBA

MONDAY Off

*If Arkansas defeats Tennessee tonight

Tennessee's reward for its late run is another game against the Razorbacks, the No. 5 seed, in tonight's first-round finale at the Hoover Met. The four winners in today's single-elimination games will advance to the double-elimination round starting Wednesday.

The Arkansas-Tennessee game, scheduled to begin at approximately 8 p.m., will serve as a de facto rubber match for the teams who met in a weather-impacted two-game series at Baum Stadium on May 8-10.

"This is a team that's feeling pretty good about themselves, so they're going to be tough," Arkansas Coach Dave Van Horn said of Tennessee, which is on four-game winning streak.

"It's a one-game shootout," Tennessee Coach Dave Serrano said.

In other first-round games today, Ole Miss will face Alabama at 9:30 a.m., followed by Missouri vs. South Carolina to close out the morning session. Kentucky and Auburn will play at 4:30 p.m. to start the evening session.

The Arkansas-Tennessee winner will face No. 4 seed Florida (40-15) on Wednesday at 8 p.m.

Van Horn said he will open with right-hander Trey Killian, who started the Razorbacks' 5-4 loss to Tennessee in the series opener May 8.

Killian (2-4, 5.16 ERA) gave up 5 runs, 4 earned, on 6 hits and 4 walks in 5 innings of Arkansas' 10-1 loss at Georgia last Thursday. Killian's only victory in his past five starts came in a 5-1 decision against Alabama at the Hoover Met on April 30.

"He hasn't had the command that he normally has, when he can spot that fastball with the best of them," Van Horn said. "That's probably been a little bit of the issue, just location. I know the last time he pitched here in Hoover against Alabama ... he threw the ball over the plate against a pretty good offensive team, a veteran-type team and gave us some good innings. Hopefully he can do that again."

Van Horn indicated he would come with an early hook if warranted, with Dominic Taccolini and Zach Jackson both in shape for long relief roles if needed.

"If Trey goes out and throws real well, I'll just leave him in there," Van Horn said. "If we're fortunate to win Game 1, that should give [Keaton] McKinney enough time to recover where he could pitch against Florida."

McKinney, the reigning SEC freshman of the week, is 5-0 in his past six starts.

Tennessee will counter with left-hander Andy Cox (3-3, 3.52), who threw 91 pitches through seven innings in a 5-4 victory over the Razorbacks two weeks ago.

"It'll probably be a staff effort because Andy is coming back from short rest," Serrano said. "He threw 110 pitches Thursday, so our plan is to see how far he can take us and then we have plenty of arms to bring in."

The struggle to make the No. 12 seed in the SEC Tournament is a far cry from the national contender status the fourth-year Serrano put on the Volunteers in the preseason. Their sweep of Mississippi State was the Vols' first against an SEC opponent under Serrano.

"The expectations created by myself -- we expected to be a slam dunk regional team and a team that could move on -- we haven't met those expectations," Serrano said. "But I am very proud. We've gone through some tough times.

"I might have put too much expectations on a program that hasn't been to [NCAA] regionals since 2005. But that's why I came back to Tennessee to get this thing back on the map in the best conference in the country. ... We know we have to play for a long time and maybe have to win this thing to get to regional."

Arkansas, which is fourth in the SEC with a .292 team batting average, is led by SEC player of the year Andrew Benintendi, who led the league with a .415 average and 17 home runs.

"The last 20 games, we just watched him in awe," Van Horn said in a UA release.

Four other Razorbacks are hitting .300 or better: outfielder Tyler Spoon (.328), second baseman Rick Nomura (.303), part-time catcher Carson Shaddy (.338) and part-time designated hitter Cullen Gassaway (.319).

Sports on 05/19/2015

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