By Nick Gray | @KyKernelGray

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UK baseball tries to regain its winning ways in the SEC when it hosts Tennessee for a three-game series this weekend at Cliff Hagan Stadium.

Sophomore left-handed pitcher A.J. Reed (2-4, 3.06 ERA) will take the mound in his usual Friday start for the Cats, who rebounded from a series sweep by LSU with a 6-3 win over Austin Peay on Tuesday.

As has been the norm during weekend series this season, senior left-handed pitcher Jerad Grundy will start Saturday and junior left-handed pitcher Corey Littrell will pitch Sunday for No. 13 UK (23-9, 6-6 SEC).

The Volunteers are scheduled to start freshman right-handed pitcher Aaron Quillen (1-1, 6.00 ERA) Friday, while junior right-handed pitcher Nick Williams (1-2, 5.59 ERA) will go Saturday. Senior right-handed pitcher Zack Godley (2-4, 3.77 ERA) will start Sunday. Godley is one of two senior players for Tennessee (senior infielder Zach Luther is the other).

“Tennessee presents the challenge of the running game. It’s a pressure offense,” UK head coach Gary Henderson said. “They try to rattle you a little bit. Our guys have typically been very good with that type of approach because it’s similar to ours.”

Freshman outfielder Kyle Barrett will likely bat leadoff for UK for the second consecutive game Friday.

Barrett is leading the Cats in hitting with a .323 average. Junior second baseman J.T. Riddle is hitting .322 with 17 runs batted in, while Reed is hitting with a team-leading eight home runs and 33 runs batted in. Reed and Riddle are tied for the team lead in total hits (39).

Prior to the LSU series, UK had won three straight series to begin the conference schedule, including two at home.

The Volunteers (14-17, 3-9 SEC) snapped an eight-game losing streak with a 4-3 victory at East Tennessee State on Tuesday. Tennessee has won only one SEC series in 2013, when it claimed two games in a three-game series vs. Missouri.

Junior infielder Scott Price leads the Volunteers in hitting with a .360 average. Sophomore infielder Will Maddox is hitting .356 with 16 runs batted in and 14 steals.

Price also leads Tennessee in extra base hits with 12, including two home runs which are tied for the team lead. The Volunteers have hit eight home runs as a team, which ranks 13th out of 14 schools in the SEC.

Tennessee also ranks last in the conference in opponent’s runs per game, giving up 6.29 runs per contest.

Friday’s game is scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m., with Saturday’s first pitch scheduled for 2 p.m. Sunday’s rubber match is slated for a 1 p.m. start. All games will be played at Cliff Hagan Stadium.