Drew Beam blew kisses to Vanderbilt as he turned in one of his best starts in his Tennessee career. The Vols blew out their instate rival for the series sweep and seventh straight win in the series.
The Vols jumped ahead early and coasted to a 10-5 victory over No. 4 Vanderbilt thanks to elite pitching and a complete offensive performance.
Here’s everything you need to know about the series finale blowout.
More From RTI: Play-By-Play Of Tennessee’s Series Sweeping Win
Tennessee Jumps On Vanderbilt With Another Two-Out Rally
Tennessee jumped on Vanderbilt Saturday with a nine-run first inning, doing all its damage with two-outs. The Vols outburst wasn’t as early or as dramatic but Tennessee jumped on the Commodores early via two-out hitting again.
A Vanderbilt error gave Tennessee a leadoff baserunner in the second inning and the Vols made it two-on with two-outs bringing up Jake Kendro to the plate. Kendro — who started in place of the suspended Christian Moore — delivered with a RBI double to left field.
Maui Ahuna continued the best weekend of his season with a 1-2 double into the left center gap to bring home a pair of runs before Hunter Ensley made it a clean 5-0 lead with a two-run homer into the left field porches.
After being unable to deliver clutch hits for most of SEC play, Tennessee jumped on No. 4 Vanderbilt for the second straight day with an abundance of clutch hits.
It’s one of many signs Tennessee showed this season that indicates they’ve turned a corner and are about to play up to its potential.
A Drew Beam Bounce Back Outing
Drew Beam turned in perhaps his worst college start last week at Arkansas. The sophomore was unable to find the strike zone and the Razorbacks rocked him six earned runs in 1.2 innings.
Beam’s control was no issue in Sunday’s series finale against Vanderbilt and it took him just 27 pitches to get deeper in the game than he did the week prior.
The Murfreesboro native did to Vanderbilt what he’s done to so many opponents in his short college career. He pounded the strike zone and made the opponent earn everything they got it. That didn’t lead to many strikeouts— Beam sat down just three Commodores though one got him out of a jam in the fourth inning.
But jams were few and far between for the right-handed pitcher. Beam produced an abundance of ground balls and his middle infield— which has struggled all season— was fantastic against in the series finale.
That combination led to a 6.2 inning outing where Beam surrendered just six hits, eight total base runners and one earned run.
Beam was in complete control and with his offense showing up in a big way that was enough for a drama free afternoon.
Hunter Ensley Sparks Big Fifth Inning
I would be remise to not specifically give Hunter Ensley a big shoutout for his monster Sunday at Lindsey Nelson Stadium. He hit the previously mentioned two-run homer in the second inning but after that Vanderbilt starter Devin Futrell got in a rhythm.
Ensley ended that rhythm in the fifth inning when he sent a one-out homer to the second deck of the left field porches to extend Tennessee’s lead to 5-0. When Jared Dickey beat the shift with a beautiful bunt an at-bat later it ended Futrell’s day.
The Vols teed off on Vanderbilt reliever Patrick Reilly and effectively put the game away.
Blake Burke worked a long competitive at-bat before singling off the wall in left field. Griffin Merritt brought Burke and Dickey home just one pitch later, jumping on a first pitch fastball for a two-run double in the gap.
Zane Denton remained ready to hit, singling up the middle to drive Merritt home.
The Vols were in good shape with a five run lead and Beam pitching well but their four-run fifth inning all but sent Vanderbilt back to the buses for the 180 mile trip back to Nashville.
Final Stats
Up Next
Tennessee returns to Lindsey Nelson Stadium for a Tuesday night matchup against Bellarmine. First pitch is at 6:30 p.m. ET.
