College Baseball Week 5: No. 1 Tennessee vs. No. 6 Florida Headlines A Loaded Weekend Slate

Image credit: Dean Curley (Photo Courtesy of Tennessee Athletics)

It’s hard to believe, but we’re already a month into the college season. I have always found this weekend to be a “landmark weekend,” so to speak, as it is the start of SEC play. For lack of better phrasing, this time of year is when the men separate themselves from the boys.

There is no better way to kick off SEC play than a series between No. 6 Florida and top-ranked Tennessee, but there are also a few other notable matchups between ranked opponents on which to keep a close eye.

SEC Heavyweights Clash In Knoxville

In what is by far the most high-profile series of the season up to this point, No. 6 Florida makes the trip north to take on No. 1 Tennessee. So far, the Gators this spring have amassed a 16-2 record with their only losses coming at the hands of Miami and Central Florida. They boast an impressive amount of depth on both sides of the baseball, which is a quality that has been on full display a bit earlier than expected due to key injuries to Pierce Coppola, Kyle Jones and Cade Kurland.

Offensively, Florida has seen five hitters emerge as its biggest contributors. South Florida transfer Bobby Boser is hitting .328/.446/.716 with seven home runs and a team-leading 25 RBIs. We’re just a month into the season, but one of the biggest revelations on the Florida roster has been Brody Donay. Donay started his career at Virginia Tech and possesses some of the most impressive raw power of any hitter in the country, but he always struggled mightily to make enough contact to tap into it on a regular basis. There are still major hitability concerns with Donay, but a simplified setup has paid dividends to this point, and he’s hitting .404/.547/.947 with 14 extra-base hits, a team-leading eight home runs and 16 RBIs. Freshman Brendan Lawson has assimilated well into an every day role to the tune of a .333/.463/.556 line and 19 RBIs, while Colby Shelton (.361/.434/.583) and Hayden Yost (.298/.333/.439) have driven in 16 runs apiece.

The Gators have a bonafide ace on the mound in Liam Peterson. Peterson currently ranks as the No. 1 pitcher in our most-recent 2026 draft update and is currently the favorite to be the first arm off the board in next year’s draft. After showing flashes as a freshman, he’s since taken a major step forward and so far has a 0.86 ERA with 34 strikeouts to just six walks across 21 innings. Peterson will certainly have his work cut out for him tomorrow against a loaded Volunteers lineup, but there’s nobody that Florida coach Kevin O’Sullivan and company would rather have to toe the rubber.

Florida’s pitching depth doesn’t stop there. Freshman Aidan King has a 0.55 ERA with 20 strikeouts to just a pair of walks in 16.1 innings, and last weekend he spun six shutout innings in his first-career start. The Sunday starter spot has been a little more iffy due in large part to Coppola’s injury, but the Gators also have a bevy of bullpen arms they feel comfortable handing the ball to.

At 17-0, Tennessee is the last unbeaten team standing. It is unequivocally the best team in the country and has steamrolled its competition. Interestingly enough, the Volunteers’ closest game so far was Tuesday’s 4-2 victory over West Georgia. Head coach Tony Vitello has perhaps the deepest, most well-rounded group in the country. Tennessee’s .340 team batting average ranks sixth nationally and both its 50 home runs and 1.77 ERA lead the country. Its offense is led by a pair of potential first-round picks in Dean Curley and Gavin Kilen. Curley has an enticing hit-power combination and is currently slashing .345/.526/.673 with six home runs and 16 RBIs. Kilen ranked as the top incoming SEC transfer and has hit the ground running to the tune of a .448/.577/1.034 line with eight home runs and 22 RBIs. He put on a little bit of weight, is swinging with more intent and is more into his lower half. Combine that with the fact that he’s getting the ball up in the air more, and the results have been quite positive.

The scary part about this Tennessee lineup is that it doesn’t end with Curley and Kilen. Fellow transfer Andrew Fischer (.311/.534/.844) has also blasted seven home runs, freshman Levi Clark’s (.488/.610/1.000) 23 RBIs lead the team and nine total hitters have double-digit RBIs to their name. It would be one thing if the Vols were a one-trick pony with their vaunted offense, but they’re not. As mentioned, their pitching staff is off to just as good of a start.

Lefthander Liam Doyle has looked like he’s playing MLB The Show on easy mode. Through four starts, he boasts a minuscule 0.44 ERA with a whopping 47 strikeouts to just five walks across 20.1 innings. His mid-to-upper-90s fastball is a double-plus pitch with impressive life through the zone, and so far it’s garnered a 59% whiff rate. Doyle throws his heater almost 80% of the time, but he also mixes in a slider and a changeup. Both are works in progress—the latter more than the former—but he looks every bit the part of a future first-round pick.

Righthander Marcus Phillips has transitioned well to the rotation and has a 0.95 ERA with 25 strikeouts to six walks in 19 innings. Phillips moves well on the mound and features a thunderous mid-to-upper-90s fastball that was up to 99 mph last week, as well as a wicked mid-to-upper-80s slider that so far has a 44% miss rate. For as dynamic of a one-two punch that Doyle and Phillips are, almost everyone on Tennessee’s pitching staff has been outstanding. Righty Tanner Franklin (0-0, 1.80 ERA) has been up to 102 with his fastball and has collected 17 strikeouts across 10 innings. Fellow fireballer Nate Snead (1-0, 0.68 ERA) has allowed just one earned run in 13.1 innings and sophomore lefthander Dylan Loy (0-0, 0.00 ERA) has been virtually untouchable through his first six appearances.

No team has won back-to-back championships since South Carolina accomplished the feat in 2011, but this Tennessee team certainly has that kind of upside.

This series figures to be great from start to finish, but it’s hard to not be most excited about tomorrow night’s pitching matchup between the two Liams—Peterson and Doyle. They’ve both mowed through their competition, but neither have faced a lineup like the one they’ll see tomorrow night. It will be straight power vs. power and a big-time litmus test for each arm. When you combine that with all the other factors at hand, especially what should be a fantastic crowd, this series figures to be a good, old-fashioned slobberknocker.

Florida is fresh off an impressive road win at rival No. 4 Florida State and predicting a series winner is mighty difficult, but I think Tennessee wins a decisive rubber game on Sunday to take the series.

How To Watch No. 6 Florida (16-2) At No. 1 Tennessee (17-0)

Both Friday and Sunday’s games can be streamed via SEC Network+, but Saturday’s game will be broadcast nationally on SEC Network.

Can Texas A&M Right The Ship?

No. 16 Alabama this weekend travels to No. 21 Texas A&M in what is a big series for both teams. The Crimson Tide is off to an outstanding 17-1 start, though they haven’t faced the stiffest competition. A series win would be quite the statement and likely vault the Tide inside the top 15. Star sophomore Justin Lebron (.380/.489/.944) is off to a blazing start and already has 11 home runs to go along with 43 RBIs, while righthander Riley Quick (3-0, 1.76 ERA) possesses a powerful arsenal.

Texas A&M came into this season as the No. 1 team in the land with some of the highest expectations of any team in the country. However, the Aggies have stumbled out of the gate, sit at just 10-6 and lack a single impressive win. This weekend is the perfect opportunity to change that and build some much-needed momentum. Losing third baseman Gavin Grahovac for the season was quite the blow, but the lineup as a whole needs to up its productivity, including scuffling star outfielder Jace LaViolette. On the mound, the lefthanded trio of Ryan Prager (2-0, 0.39 ERA), Justin Lamkin (1-1, 2.28 ERA) and Myles Patton (2-1, 2.28 ERA) has been excellent and figures to keep A&M in most—if not all—of its games going forward. Nobody in College Station should be pushing the panic button quite yet, but a series loss to open up SEC play would not be the most confidence-inducing result.

How To Watch No. 16 Alabama (17-1) At No. 21 Texas A&M (10-6)

Both Friday and Saturday’s games can be streamed via SEC Network+, while Sunday’s game will be broadcast nationally on SEC Network.

A Golden Opportunity For Ole Miss

It’s no secret that this is a big season for Ole Miss. After winning its first-ever national championship in 2022, the Rebels have failed to make the tournament in each of the last two seasons. So far, so good for head coach Mike Bianco’s crew, which sits at 14-2 with a trio of impressive wins over Arizona, No. 5 Clemson and Southern Miss.

This weekend is their toughest test yet, as they welcome red-hot Arkansas to Swayze Field. Ole Miss so far has received timely hitting up and down its lineup, while Hunter Elliott (3-0, 1.86 ERA) has led the charge on the mound. In addition to Elliott, a quartet of arms—Brayden Jones (1-0, 0.00 ERA), Connor Spencer (0-0, 0.00 ERA), Mason Morris (2-0, 0.68 ERA) and Walker Hooks (1-0, 0.90 ERA)—have cemented themselves as reliable bullpen options.

Arkansas is firing on all cylinders and comes into this weekend on a 12-game winning streak. The bash brothers Kuhio (.460/.557/1.000) and Wehiwa Aloy (.400/.500/.785) have crushed seven and six home runs, respectively, while transfer Brent Iredale (.431/.581/.961) ranks second on the team with 29 RBIs. Unlike last season, the depth of Arkansas’ lineup has stood out in the early going.

Lefthanders Zach Root (2-0, 2.11 ERA) and Landon Beidelschies (3-0, 2.37 ERA) have both been “stock up” arms in the early going, while prized sophomore Gabe Gaeckle (1-0, 6.16 ERA—outside of one start—has transitioned nicely into the Razorbacks’ starting rotation. While I think Ole Miss will win a game, I believe the Razorbacks will leave Oxford with a quality road series win under their belt.

How To Watch No. 3 Arkansas (16-1) At No. 15 Ole Miss (14-2)

All three games this weekend can be streamed via SEC Network+.

A Similar Opportunity Awaits Louisville

On opening weekend, I wrote about how both Ole Miss and Louisville needed to get off to fast starts. So far, so good for both, as the Cardinals also have a 14-2 record and sit at No. 25 our most recent Top 25 rankings. They took down No. 9 Texas 4-3 in extra-innings on opening weekend and also notched an impressive double-digit victory over Arizona. Offensively, their depth has stood out in the early going. Matt Klein (.373/.473/.593) and Tague Davis (.400/.525/.889) lead the team with 22 and 21 RBIs, respectively, while junior college transfer Jake Munroe (.469/.539/.703) is the team’s leading hitter.

On the bump, Patrick Forbes (2-0, 1.29 ERA) has a plus fastball-slider combination and looks the part of a potential first-round pick. Sophomore Parker Detmers (1-1, 3.94 ERA) has also thrown the ball well, while arms like Brennyn Cutts (2-0, 1.54 ERA), Wyatt Danilowicz (0-0, 0.00 ERA) and Jack Brown (2-1, 3.21 ERA) are key depth pieces.

I wrote at-length last week about North Carolina and there are no new developments outside of the fact that they dropped last weekend’s series against Stanford. A disappointing result, but that is the furthest thing from a bad loss. My overall feeling about the Tar Heels has not changed, and they are still a team with Omaha upside.