Tennessee baseball bounced back from a disappointing series opening loss at Auburn with one of its most dominant performances of the season. The Vols blew past Auburn early and coasted to a 12-2 run-rule victory in seven innings.
Here’s what to know about the blowout Tennessee victory.
Hard Hats Needed In The Outfield Seats
Tennessee baseball’s offense has as much power hitting as any team in the country. They entered Saturday’s game with six players who had already hit eight-plus long balls on the season.
The Vols flexed that power against Auburn on Saturday by hitting six home runs. Dalton Bargo entered the game with just four home runs. He ended it with six. Bargo started the home run barrage with a solo homer in the second inning and followed it up with a two-run homer in the third inning.
Tony Vitello’s seventh Tennessee team hit two home runs between the Bargo blasts. Christian Moore had the biggest swing of the game when his two-out grand slam gave Tennessee a 5-0 lead in the second inning.
Dylan Dreiling also hit two homers while hitting in the three-hole for the first time all season. He hit a solo homer in the third inning and then a massive 422-foot solo homer in the sixth inning.
Tennessee’s other home run was one of great meaning too. Blake Burke hit a solo home run in the fourth inning. It marked the 41st long ball of his career and made him the Vols’ new outright career home run leader.
Ten of Tennessee’s 12 runs came via the long ball.
More From RTI: Play-By-Play Of Tennessee Baseball’s Game Two Win At Auburn
Beam Bounce Back
Tennessee starting pitcher Drew Beam had a poor performance last week in Tennessee’s thrilling game-two win over Georgia allowing seven runs and four earned runs in 2.2 innings pitched. Beam hasn’t been bad in SEC play besides that start but he also hadn’t been overly sharp either.
He was extremely sharp against Auburn, turning in his best start of the season in Tennessee’s blowout win.
The junior right-hander dominated a good Auburn lineup. Beam allowed just two hits and two runs (one earned run) while striking out eight batters in seven innings pitched. He got in an absolute groove in the middle of the game, retiring 14 straight batters at one point.
While it’s easy to say that it was a bad time for an elite Beam start because of the Vols scoring 12 runs, that doesn’t encompass everything. With AJ Causey failing to make it out of the second inning on Friday, Tennessee had already had to expend a lot of its bullpen entering Saturday’s game.
Beam’s dominant start preserved Tennessee’s bullpen for Sunday series rubber match. It’s also good for the Vols’ top starter to get a dominant outing in a year that he’s only been solid to date.
Some Odds And Ins
The game was pretty simple with the two sections above telling most of the story. So let’s hit a few extra notes and nuggets here.
-Hunter Ensley had a really nice game at plate. He reached base in all four at-bats with two walks and two singles. The center fielder’s bat is starting to come around after a lagging start to the season.
-Shortstop Dean Curley hit right behind Ensley and twice doubled to left field with Ensley on first. The freshman totaled three hits on the afternoon.
-Tennessee’s bats were just fantastic and consistent in this game. Five players recorded multiple hits while eight players reached base. Moore drove in six runners.
-The Vols started Cal Stark behind the plate but Cannon Peebles pinch hit for designated hitter Reese Chapman and went 0-for-2. Tennessee has been starting Peebles at least once behind the plate most weekends. Will be interesting to see who gets the nod behind the plate tomorrow.
Box Score
Up Next
Tennessee and Auburn conclude its three-game weekend series on Sunday afternoon. First pitch for the series rubber match at Plainsman Park is at 2 p.m. ET. The SEC Network+ is streaming the game.
