Tennessee Baseball Star Earns SEC Player of the Week Honors

Tennessee baseball’s Christian Moore earned SEC Player of the Week honors after turning in a dominant performance in the Vols’ three-game series win at Kentucky over the weekend.

The junior second baseman went on a tear in the Commonwealth, hitting nine-of-15 (.600) at the plate with four home runs, a double and nine RBIs.

Moore was particularly spectacular in the Vols’ Sunday series finale victory, going four-of-five with a double and three home runs in the 13-11 thriller. Tennessee’s leadoff many became the seventh ever Vol to hit three home runs in one game and the first to do it in a SEC game since Evan Russell did it twice during the 2021 season (LSU and Vanderbilt).

“That was pretty ridiculous, to be honest with you,” Tennessee coach Tony Vitello said on Sunday. “There’s no real words to put into it. I think both teams probably played to a stalemate for most of the weekend if you were going to dissect it. I feel like we made a lot of mistakes. I assumed we made more than they did. But a separator was he.”

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Moore’s three home runs on Sunday and four home runs over the weekend moved him ahead of teammate Blake Burke for Tennessee’s career home run program record. The junior sluggers are in the midst of a back-and-forth race to try and earn the weekend honors.

Tennessee’s junior second baseman is in the midst of an incredible junior season where he’s hitting .376 with 19 home runs, 13 doubles and 45 RBIs. Moore is just five home runs away from tying Sonny Cortez for the program’s single season home run record.

Perhaps the most impressive thing about Moore’s season is that he’s been even better in SEC play than he’s been in non conference play. In 18 conference games, Moore is hitting .407 with 13 home runs, six doubles and a team-best 28 RBIs.

The Vols are currently 12-6 in conference play and are in fourth place in the SEC behind Kentucky, Arkansas and Texas A&M. Tennessee hosts Western Carolina in a midweek matchup Tuesday night before hosting Missouri for a three-game series this weekend.