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Yan Gomes is trying hard to not make a big deal out of his recent hot streak.

Tennessee's sophomore catcher might be a little superstitious, but not to the point where he's sacrificing chickens or looking for a Voodoo man to bless his bat.

He just does his thing. Lately, that's getting hits.

Gomes heads into a huge weekend series with Vanderbilt - beginning at 7 tonight at Lindsey Nelson Stadium - after hitting safely in 17 consecutive games.

"I don't mind talking about it," Gomes said, not worried about a possible jinx. "I talk about it all the time in the clubhouse. I just say there's another one, let's go to the next one.

"I'm not trying to do too much out there. I'm trusting all the guys behind me, not trying to hit home runs and just putting the bat on the ball. Right now, they're falling for hits."

Gomes has jumped to the top of UT's hitters with his .350 average. Still, he has a way to go before he can crack the top four in UT hit-streak history.

Condredge Holloway is at the top of the list with a 27-game streak in 1975. Jeff Pickler had a 26-game streak in 1998 and Justin Ross a 24-game streak in 1998.

If Gomes can make it through this weekend with a hit in every game, he'll tie Kris Bennett (2000) at 20.

Gomes couldn't care less. He just wants some wins against Tennessee's biggest rival.

"We just want to play hard and get our (SEC tournament) bid," he said. "We want to get in without having to wait to the last game like last year against Florida."

UT first-year coach Todd Raleigh is right there on the same wavelength with Gomes.

"I don't want it to come down to South Carolina on Sunday (May 17)," Raleigh said. "I can live with any other scenario, but if we do that with this young team, it's going to be tough at their place.

"I want to take care of business at home and kind of separate a little."

Eight teams go to Hoover, Ala., on May 21-25, and right now the Vols (25-20, 11-10 SEC) are in a three-way tie for the fifth, sixth and seventh spot with Kentucky and South Carolina. Vanderbilt is fourth and Georgia sits comfortably at the top.

UT has Vandy (31-13, 11-9) this weekend, Kentucky at home next weekend and concludes the regular season at South Carolina.

Raleigh has prepared himself for a tense few weeks.

"I already know it's coming down to the end," he said. "There's going to be scoreboard watching like crazy that last weekend.

"There's no way this thing is going to separate in the next two weeks. No way."

The big incentive for Raleigh is taking two of three at home from Vandy and Kentucky in order to have a possible tie-breaker advantage with those teams.

"It's tight," he said. "If we keep playing well like we have at home we can put ourselves in a really good position after this weekend.

"When you start looking at how bunched up it is, I guarantee you someone is getting into the tournament because of a tiebreaker. I don't know if it will be Tennessee, but somebody will."

Junior third baseman Cody Brown understands the implications.

"This is my third year and I've never seen it so close," the former Farragut High School standout said. "We're two games out of second or two games out of 11th.

"That's what makes this weekend so huge."

Weekend Rotation: Raleigh is sticking with his weekend rotation of Nick Hernandez tonight, Bryan Morgado on Saturday and most likely Ty'Relle Harris on Sunday.

The Sunday start is officially listed as "to be determined" in case Harris is needed for long relief tonight or Saturday.

"Those guys have kept us in games," Raleigh said. "I feel bad for Nick. We took a 3-2 lead into the ninth last week and it seems like he gets a no-decision every time.

"But those guys have given us quality starts every time."

© 2008, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.