Tennessee’s bats were raring to go when the Vols took the plate in the top of the first inning at 11:00 a.m. ET on Saturday.
Tennessee launched three home runs over the fence in their first five batters of the ballgame with back-to-back jacks from the Vols’ four and five-spot batters.
Christian Moore led things off with a deep flyball to center field, foreshadowing what was to come. For a second straight game in the Knoxville Super Regionals, Blake Burke sent a ball over the fence in his first at-bat with a deep shot to left-center field.
After a ground out from Billy Amick gave Evansville their first out in the inning, Dylan Dreiling and Hunter Ensley sent back-to-back home runs over the fence for the Vols’ second and third solo shots of the inning. Dreiling’s home run went to right-center field while Ensley sent his down the left-field line.
The solo home runs were Burke’s 19th of the season, Dreiling’s 20th of the season, and Ensley’s 11th of the season.
With Tennessee as the visiting team in the Super Regional series, the Vols put three runs on the scoreboard just minutes into the contest.
THREE HOME RUNS IN THE FIRST FOR TENNESSEE 🔥 pic.twitter.com/WvywgKFPRG
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) June 8, 2024
More from RTI: LIVE Updates, Score, Notes: No. 1 Tennessee Baseball vs. Evansville Super Regional Game Two
With three home runs through the first five innings of Saturday’s game, Tennessee now has 19 home runs through the NCAA tournament so far and 166 in total this season. The Vols are second all-time in single-season home runs as they chase LSU’s 1997 team with 188.
Burke extended Tennessee’s lead to 4-0 in the second inning with a sacrifice fly but the Purple Aces put themselves on the scoreboard with a three-run inning in the bottom of the fourth. Tennessee added a run in the top of the fifth on a Kavares Tears RBI double but Evansville answered big in the bottom of the inning with three runs to take the lead.
At the time of this publication, Evansville (0-1) leads No. 1 Tennessee (1-0) by a score of 6-5 after five innings in Knoxville.
Check-in with Rocky Top Insider’s live updates from Lindsey Nelson Stadium as the Vols look to punch their ticket to the Men’s College World Series.
