After inclement weather postponed Tennessee baseball’s home opener for two straight weeks, the Vols are ready to play under the lights of Lindsey Nelson Stadium for the first time this season when they face the Middle Tennessee State Blue Raiders.
However, according to weather reports, Tennessee may have to keep waiting a little while longer to play its first home game.
The meteorologists at The Weather Channel, AccuWeather.com and WBIR are all predicting rain showers on Tuesday. If rain prevents the Vols from playing their home opener, it will mark the sixth time their home opener was delayed due to weather.
The Vols originally intended to host Tennessee Tech on Feb. 18 for their home opener. But freezing rain on Monday and snow on Tuesday night interfered with those plans. The weather conditions failed to improve in the week, resulting in the cancellation of Tennessee’s scheduled three-game home series against Rutgers for the weekend. Another blast of snow the following week cancelled the Vols’ home clash against Lipscomb.
And now with eight regular season games in the record book, Tennessee has yet to play a game on its home diamond.
The Vols could certainly use some home games as they have struggled in their first two road weekend series.
They went 1-2 in their season-opening series against Florida International University on Feb. 13-15 and posted the same record in their series against UC Irvine last weekend.
The Vols found a silver lining in the series against UC Irvine when they defeated the Anteaters, 12-10, Saturday. Tennessee recorded a season-high with 17 hits in the victory.
“It was a great team win,” head coach Dave Serrano said moments after the victory. “The offense picked up the pitching and the defense, and that is what complete teams do.”
The Vols hope to carry their offensive performance into their next game when they host MTSU on Tuesday at 6 p.m. The Blue Raiders will enter the game with a 7-2 record, winning all three of their series, including a 3-game sweep of Western Illinois. The last time the teams met, the Vols recorded a 2-0 shutout in Murfreesboro, Tennessee.
Freshman lefty Zach Warren will throw his first pitch at Tennessee as he will start on the mound for the first time in his career.
If the game is cancelled due to weather, the Vols home opener will fall on Wednesday at 4 p.m. against Morehead State.
