Tennessee baseball (35-7, 13-6 SEC) took care of business in drama free fashion in its series opener against Missouri (19-23, 6-12 SEC), knocking off the Tigers 10-1 at Lindsey Nelson Stadium.
The Vols took their first lead on the fifth pitch of the bottom of the first inning and cruised past the Tigers from there to earn a series opening victory.
Here’s everything to know about the win.
Chris Stamos And AJ Causey Fantastic On The Mound
Tennessee stuck with its Chris Stamos to AJ Causey combination for the third straight weekend series.
After recording just one out last week at Kentucky, left-handed opener Chris Stamos bounced back against Missouri on Thursday night. The only real bit of trouble Stamos ran into came in the first inning when Missouri recorded a pair of two-out singles. But the Cal grad transfer worked his way out of the jam with a strikeout before retiring the side in order in the second inning.
Tony Vitello went to the bullpen with two-outs in the third inning and a runner on second. Stamos ended his day allowing three hits and no walks while striking out three batters. It tied his longest starting outing of the season.
Causey was really good for the third straight week, allowing just six hits, two walks and one run while striking out six batters in six innings pitched.
After a rocky two weeks early in SEC play, Causey has bounced back in a big way and has found his groove here in the middle of conference play.
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Home Runs Propel Tennessee’s Offense
Tennessee entered Thursday night’s matchup against Missouri with the most home runs in the country. They did nothing to slow down their pace, scoring all 10 runs on SIX home runs on Thursday night.
Christian Moore picked up right where he left off last weekend, taking Missouri’s Ryan Magdic deep to left center field on the fifth pick of the game. Tennessee never trailed the rest of the way.
Cal Stark provided the home run that opened the game up in the second inning. After Reese Chapman struck out with runners on second and third with one-out, Stark picked him up launching a 400 foot three-run home run that opened the things up for Tennessee.
The Vols added a run in the third inning when Billy Amick hit a 112 mph line drive off the bat into the left field porches in left field. In the fourth inning, Hunter Ensley hit an opposite field solo home run. It’s the second straight week that Ensley has hit a home run in the series opener and the Vols hope it helps break him out of the slump. Amick added a three-run home run that proved to be the dagger in the sixth inning.
It’s the fourth straight game that Tennessee has hit four-plus home runs and it ties the most home runs that the Vols have hit in a game this season.
Billy Barrels Has A Big Night
Tennessee third baseman Billy Amick had a rare quiet series last weekend when the Vols won two of three gams at Kentucky.
But Amick has responded in truly elite fashion. He hit two home runs in Tennessee’s midweek win over Western Carolina earlier this week before hitting two more home runs on Thursday night.
The star Clemson transfer finished his night tree-of-five at the plate with four RBIs and now has four home runs in his last two games and 16 home runs on the season.
Those season stats are particularly impressive given he missed seven games after having an appendectomy earlier in SEC play.
Box Score
Up Next
Tennessee resumes its three game series against Missouri at 6:30 p.m. ET on Friday night at Lindsey Nelson Stadium. SEC Network+ is streaming the game.
