Tennessee baseball extended its win streak to seven games on Tuesday night by knocking off Bellarmine 20-5 at Lindsey Nelson Stadium.
It was another drama free midweek victory for the Vols who improved to 31-6 (10-5 SEC) with the victory. Here’s everything to know about the matchup.
Blake Burke Pulls Back Ahead In The Tennessee Home Run Race
Tennessee’s Blake Burke and Christian Moore entered the day tied atop the Vols’ career home run list wth 42 long balls apiece. Moore had tied Burke up by hitting a pair of home runs in the Vols’ Sunday series finale against LSU.
It didn’t take Burke long to reclaim the lone spot atop the standings. After singling in his first at-bat, Burke launched a 406 foot grand slam off the top of the video board in right field. It was a no doubter that marked his 13th home run of the season and his 43rd home run of his career.
Burke’s day was over after the second inning home run but his short night was enough for him to extend his hit streak to 27 games in the win which is tied with Condredge Holloway for the longest hit streak in program history. His on-base streak is now 35 games as the junior first baseman continues his phenomenal season.
Tennessee coach Tony Vitello gave Christian Moore the night off so the junior second baseman didn’t have any opportunities to match his teammate.
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Have Yourself A Day Reese Chapman
Sophomore outfielder Reese Chapman got the start in right field against the Knights and made the absolute most of his opportunity.
The Colorado native started his game off right in the top of the first inning by making a spectacular leaping catch to rob Reed Blaszczyk of an extra-base hit.
AIR CHAPMAN!@SportsCenter
📺https://t.co/GcMMQMdzTu (SECN+)#GBO // #OTH // #BeatBellarmine pic.twitter.com/lD3eJETJIA
— Tennessee Baseball (@Vol_Baseball) April 16, 2024
Chapman was pretty darn good at the plate too. He opened up the scoring in the second inning with a two-run line drive home run into the Tennessee bullpen in right field.
The left-handed hitter wasn’t done for the night either, hitting a solo opposite field home run into the second deck of left field porches.
Chapman has earned a handful of weekend at-bats and starts this season and continues to make the most of his opportunities, finishing the night two-of-three with a walk and three RBIs.
Some Extended Outings In A Bullpen Game
As is usually the case in a midweek game, Tennessee didn’t use a true starter and instead threw eight pitchers out of the bullpen.
But Tony Vitello did give a few young pitchers multiple innings in the win. Maybe it’s because the run-rule wasn’t in effect like it usually is on Tuesday night but Vitello giving pitchers multiple innings hasn’t happened much in midweeks this season.
Junior college transfer Marcus Phillips pitched the first two innings of the game and retired all six batters he faced while striking out a pair of Knights.
Freshman left-handed pitcher Dylan Loy came in to pitch after things went awry for Austin Hunley in the third inning. Loy allowed a solo home run against the first batter he faced but was good from there, allowing just that one hit and a walk while striking out three batters in 2.1 innings pitched.
Those were the only Tennessee pitchers that got over an inning of work with Hunley, Matthew Dallas, Brady Robertson, Luke Payne, Derek Schaefer and J.J. Garcia also making appearances.
Box Score
Up Next
Tennessee heads to Lexington this weekend for a highly anticipated series against No. 3 Kentucky. First pitch on Friday night at Kentucky Proud Park is at 6:30 p.m. ET. SEC Network+ is streaming the game.
