KNOXVILLE, TN – Tennessee baseball cruised to a 12-1 run-rule win over Bowling Green in seven innings on Saturday in Knoxville to clinch the weekend series.
Junior right-handed pitcher Drew Beam turned in his best start of the young season, the top of the lineup excelled, and the Vols scored seven runs in the sixth inning as they picked up another stress-free victory over the Falcons.
Here’s three quick takeaways on Tennessee’s ninth consecutive win of the season.
Back-to-Back Jacks Lead Things Off
Tennessee used back-to-back home runs in the first inning to quickly take a lead after Bowling Green’s leadoff blast in the top of the inning. Christian Moore and Blake Burke each launched 400+ foot home runs to give the Vols their first lead of the evening.
Both were no-doubters, as Moore’s went over the left-field porches and Burke’s, which came on the first pitch of the at-bat, was hammered into the parking lot behind the scoreboard.
“I think the game started off with a lot of electricity,” head coach Tony Vitello said following the game. “I don’t know if I’ve seen a game where both leadoff hitters hit a home run.”
The back-to-back bombs made it two games in a row where Tennessee had hit consecutive home runs, as Blake Burke and Billy Amick went back-to-back in the fifth inning in Friday’s series-opening win.
Amick – a.k.a. ‘Billy Barrels’ – later added to Tennessee’s lead in the third when he went oppo for a two-run shot into the bullpen. The home run scored himself and Burke, who led off the inning with a double.
Amick has now hit seven home runs in his first 11 games as a Vol and has homered in three straight, but what is arguably even more impressive is the fact that 10 of his 16 hits this season are extra-base hits.
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Tennessee Opens It Up in the Sixth
Tennessee scored eight combined runs in the fifth and sixth innings to take a 10-run lead and ultimately run-rule the Falcons in the seventh, and seven came in the sixth.
Cannon Peebles added a run in the fifth with an RBI double, and then the Vols opened it up a frame later, scoring seven runs, all with two outs.
Blake Burke got the scoring started with a monstrous 420-foot home run to right field, giving him two bombs on the night and four on the season.
“Really what he did was carry over BP (batting practice),” Vitello said about Burke’s big night. “I don’t know that it was his best BP if you’re a fan, but it was my favorite BP I’ve seen him take in a long long time. And really the ball he hit there, or really the night he had, was a by-product of that.
After some command issues from Bowling Green pitcher Jacob Turner, Dylan Dreiling drove in a pair of runs with a two-run double. Dreiling was then brought home one batter later as Dalton Bargo hit a two-run double of his own.
A wild pitch and Hunter Ensley RBI double rounded out the scoring in the inning for Tennessee, giving the Vols a 12-1 lead.
Aaron Combs preserved the 11-run lead in the seventh, recording a 1-2-3 inning end the game.
Drew Beam Turns in Season-Best Outing
Drew Beam didn’t have the best start to his third start of the season, giving up a leadoff home run to Bowling Green’s DJ Newman.
But as the game progressed, Drew Beam was Drew Beam, giving up only two more hits, no walks and no more runs.
Beam’s curveball and fastball were working well for him against the Falcons, and he logged a season-high eight strikeouts. The Murfreesboro, Tennessee, native also set season bests in innings pitched (6) and hits allowed (5).
Beam ran into trouble just one time during his outing, as Bowling Green had a pair of runners on with no outs in the fifth. However, Beam got nine-hole hitter TJ Takats to ground into a double play before striking out DJ Newman to strand a runner at third.
Beam’s dominant start continues a theme of great starting pitching for Tennessee this weekend, as he and Causey were lights out in their respective starts.
Up Next
Tennessee will go for the series sweep on Sunday in Knoxville. First pitch is at 1 p.m. ET, and it can be watched on SEC Network +.
Vitello was non-committal on who will start on the mound in the series finale.
“No,” Vitello said if he knew who he was going to start. “And I don’t know if we will even come to that conclusion in the next couple of hours. We want to use a lot of guys. We have been cut short four innings for guys on the mound. Trust me, the goal is to win the game… We need to be just as hungry as they are tomorrow.”
