Gonna be a fun series... both teams are playing really good ball. Tennessee is loaded, but they were last year too when Bama took 2 of 3 early in the season. Offensively, both schools measure up really well... They hit for power, for average, and get score lots of runs.
| Stat | Bama | Vols |
| Avg. | .323 | .322 |
| OBP | .455 | .466 |
| RBI | 205 | 213 |
| HR | 47 | 54 |
| Total Bases | 431 | 424 |
| Walks | 162 | 146 |
| SO | 145 | 145 |
Tennessee's best weapon on offense (and they have several) has been Louisville transfer second baseman Gavin Kilen. Kilen is hitting .431 with 10 HR's and 25 RBI. But, 1-9 they are dangerous and can score runs in bunches. Good news is, Bama's offense is of a similar mold.
On the flip side, both teams have a talented and deep pitching staffs. The Vols lead the league with a rather ridiculous 1.94 ERA, holding opponents to a .182 average. Their staff ERA leads the league by a full run. Bama brings a staff ERA of 3.20 (3rd in the SEC) and has held opponents to a .211 average. The Vols are coming off a 3 game sweep of Florida (at home) while Bama is also 3-0 after last weekend's sweep in College Station.
Both teams are good defensively, but worth mentioning, the Vols have thrown out just 31% of base stealers... and thus far, teams have found some success running on them. Bama has speed throughout the lineup, so that's something to look for... this year's Bama squad is both smarter and more aggressive on the bases than last year's under Vaughn.
Now, keep in mind, the above stats are heavily weighted with non-conference teams, but there's no point in going SEC
only stats 1 week into the season. But
if we did... it would be Bama and Vols at the top in terms of team ERA (in that order). Hitting? That would be a wider margin with both teams falling well short of their season averages... Bama at .243 and Tennessee at .279. But again, until more SEC games are played, the in conference stats don't tell us much.
I'd love to see Bama take 2 of 3 and win the series against them for the 2nd season in a row. Feels like a big ask, but this team is certainly capable, and under Vaughn's watch, they've played well at home in conference play (they only lost 1 home series last year, Texas A&M 2 games to 1). Regardless what happens, Bama is in a good spot right now. And it's early, but if they stay healthy and keep playing well, they will postilion themselves
really well for the postseason.
