LSU baseball coach Paul Mainieri vividly remembers what happened the last time the Tigers played Tennessee.The Volunteers outscored the Tigers, 20-11, in the series, and LSU led for just one inning in the three games.”We went there last year and got swept,” Mainieri said. “That’s something that’s very fresh in our minds.”Mainieri hopes LSU can avenge last season’s three-game sweep when the No. 1 Tigers (27-10, 10-5) host the Volunteers (17-21, 3-12) in their first Southeastern Conference series at Alex Box Stadium in three weeks.LSU comes into the game having won nine-straight Southeastern Conference series, tying the all-time SEC record of nine-straight weekend series, which is held by Vanderbilt’s 2007-2008 ballclubs.But the Tigers’ last game was arguably their worst of the season — a 3-1 loss to Nicholls State.LSU scratched out just four hits against eight Colonels pitchers.The bright spot for LSU offensively was the continued hot hitting of junior outfielder/designated hitter Blake Dean, who was 2-for-4 on the night and has gone 10-for-25 in LSU’s past six games with 14 RBI to get out of his early-season slump.Dean said he has made it a point to have more fun the rest of the season after putting a lot of pressure on himself early in the year.”It made me angry not producing the way I’d like to,” he said. “But it’s a game at the end of the day, and I can’t let it affect my life and how I go about my business.”Mainieri said he expects Dean to be a driving force for LSU’s offense the remainder of the season.”I feel very good about the way he’s coming along,” Mainieri said. “That kid is way too good of a hitter to stay in a slump for the whole season.”Dean said he hopes to add to his lofty numbers this weekend to get revenge against the Volunteers’ sweep last season.”We all remember the way we played against Tennessee last season,” he said. “We want to go out there this weekend and have a much more inspired performance.”The good news for LSU hitters is the Volunteers rank No. 11 in the SEC in team pitching with a 5.82 team ERA.Juniors Aaron Tullo and Nick Hernandez and senior Ty’Relle Harris are expected to start the weekend on the mound for Tennessee. The trio has a 7-10 record on the season with a combined ERA above 5.00.LSU will counter Tennessee’s struggling pitching with the SEC’s fourth-best team ERA.Sophomore Anthony Ranaudo and senior Louis Coleman anchor the Tigers pitching staff that has an SEC-best 386 strikeouts on the season, 34 more than the second-best team in the league.Mainieri said he plans to start Ranaudo on Friday night and Coleman on Saturday if he does not pitch in relief Friday. Sophomore Austin Ross will get the start Sunday.Mainieri said regardless of Liles’ injury, the Tigers will face a team that is better than they’ve shown so far this season.”They have a much better team than their record indicates,” Mainieri said. “They’re playing a lot better, and we’ve got a tremendous challenge on our hands and we’d better be ready for it.”——Contact Casey Gisclair at [email protected]