Texas baseball and Pete Hansen set to battle No. 17 Tennessee

After a couple of days off since their last game, No. 1 ranked Texas baseball and head coach David Pierce are set to get back in action on March 4 against the No. 17 ranked Tennessee Volunteers out of the SEC East. This is going to be the first game of the Shriners Hospitals for Children College Classic series during the weekend for Texas.

The Longhorns and Vols are set to duke it out in this three-game weekend Shriners Hospitals for Children series. Texas will be looking to stay undefeated in this game. Pierce and the Longhorns are the only remaining undefeated team in the Big 12 at this point of the season.

Texas heads into this March 4 meeting with Tennesse sporting a record of 9-0 (0-0 Big 12) following their convincing 10-2 win over the Sam Houston State Bearkats on the road on March 1. Prior to knocking off Sam Houston State earlier this week, Texas swept the Alabama Crimson Tide out of the SEC West in a weekend series at home at UFCU Disch-Falk Field.

Meanwhile, Tennessee is coming into this game with a record of 8-0 (0-0 SEC East). This is the first undefeated team that the Longhorns will face since their three-game series started against the Crimson Tide last weekend.

David Pierce and Texas baseball set to face No. 17 Tennessee behind SP Pete Hansen

Moreover, the Vols are coming off a March 1 three-run win over East Tennessee State.

This will be by far the most difficult opposition the Vols faced up to this point of the season. Tennessee hasn’t really even faced a major conference foe through their first few series of the regular season.

On the mound for Pierce and the Longhorns is the standout redshirt sophomore left-handed pitcher Pete Hansen. Off to a really dominant start this season, Hansen has yet to allow any earned runs through two starts. Given that, Hansen comes into this matchup against Tennessee sporting a record of 2-0 with a 0.00 earned run average.

Yet, Texas will get a difficult matchup against the ace of Tennessee’s staff in this one. Tennessee also has an undefeated starting pitcher on the mound for this game, with right-hander Chase Burns. Through two starts this season, Burns holds a record of 2-0 with a 0.00 ERA.

Texas did already face a handful of difficult tests to start out this regular season slate. Sweeping Alabama was no easy feat. But this three-game weekend event will be their toughest test of any stretch of the schedule to date.

The first pitch between Texas and Tennessee on March 4 is set for 7 p.m. CT. After Texas faces Tennessee to start off the Shriner Hospitals for Children College Classic, they will have contests against the likes of the LSU Tigers and UCLA Bruins to round out the weekend.