Fans in Knoxville looking to enjoy some Saturday evening baseball will have to wait just a little bit longer. Missouri and Tennessee were originally set to take the field at 6 p.m. ET. But Mother Nature is now getting involved. Lightning in the area means the start time has been pushed back by an hour.

“UPDATE: Due to lightning in the area, Tennessee and Missouri will now begin Saturday’s Game 2 of the series at 7 p.m. ET,” Eric Cain of On3 | Rivals’ VolQuest said via X.

Friday’s result brought a bit of a surprise. Missouri pulled off the series-opening victory, being the program’s first in SEC play this season. A consistent offensive night was enough to get the job done for the Tigers. Eight runs, scored over three different innings, bettered what Tennessee put together — only getting four runs on nine hits.

Missouri taking the Saturday night contest would mean it’s just the third SEC series win in as many seasons. Last year saw a sweep of the Texas A&M Aggies. Weirdly enough, Mizzou did the same against Florida in 2024 when they were ranked No. 4 in the country at the time.

Of course, Tennessee is hoping for the opposite. Whenever the two teams do get underway on Rocky Top, the Vols will be facing one of the more important games of their season.

More on Tennessee baseball season

Tennessee baseball went through some changes this offseason. Tony Vitello is no longer with the program. Instead, he is out West, serving as the manager of the San Francisco Giants. Vitello is undoubtedly the best head coach in Tennessee history, being a major void to fill.

Josh Elander takes over, currently having the Vols at 15-7 overall. The start of SEC play has not been the best, even before losing to Mizzou on Friday. A trip to Athens resulted in a series loss despite winning on Friday night. Georgia wound up winning the final two, keeping their spot in the national rankings as a top-10 team.

On3’s Jonathan Wagner does currently have Tennessee included in the field of 64 in his latest NCAA Tournament projections. The Vols are a two-seed, heading to Charlottesville. But there is a lot of work to be done if they plan on hosting. Wagner slotted them as the No. 27 overall seed, needing to produce a big-time run to hold a regional in Knoxville.