While Christian Moore is in the midst of a battle with teammate Blake Burke to be Tennessee baseball’s career home run champion, he’s also in striking distance of becoming the Vols’ single-season home run record holder.
Moore enters Tuesday night’s midweek matchup against Queens with 21 home runs on the season. The Vols’ starting second baseman is just three home runs behind Sonny Cortez (24 HR in 1998) for the program record.
*Update: After hitting two home runs against Vanderbilt, Moore is just one home run shy of tying the program record
Moore is currently fourth in the Vols’ record books behind only Cortez, Trey Lipscomb (22 in 2022) and Cody Hawn (22 in 2009). He’s directly ahead of Tennessee program legends Todd Helton (20 in 1995) and Chris Burke (20 in 2001).
Perhaps the most impressive part of Moore’s season is that he’s done most of his damage against high level competition. Moore’s hit 15 home runs in just 24 SEC games this season while hitting six home runs in 23 non conference games.
The junior infielder has been a strong power hitter since he arrived on Tennessee’s campus and has steadily improved each season. He hit 10 home runs in 118 at-bats as a freshman, 17 home runs in 214 at-bats as a sophomore and is at 21 home runs in 191 at-bats this season.
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Tennessee has eight games left int he regular season before the SEC Tournament and then the NCAA Tournament. Assuming the top-ranked Vols keep playing well in the postseason, Moore is close to a lock to break the single-season home run record.
If he finishes the regular season strong, he could tie or break the program record before postseason play even begins.
With 48 career home runs, Moore is Tennessee baseball’s record holder. Moore holds a three long ball lead over teammate Blake Burke. Tennessee’s starting first baseman has hit 45 career home runs and 15 home runs during his junior season.
While Moore has extended his lead in recent weeks, Burke is still in striking distance as the Vols get closer to postseason play.
Tennessee starting third baseman Billy Amick has 18 home runs this season. Currently tied for eighth in the single-season program record, Amick could easily move into the top five and has a real chance to move in the top three.
