Tennessee baseball first baseman Blake Burke has tied the program home run record, as he hit his 40th career home run on Saturday against Georgia in game two of the series. Burke ties former first baseman Luc Lipcius with 40 home runs.
Burke’s record-tying homer was a solo blast to right field, traveling 411 feet with an exit velocity of 117 mph. It was the highest exit velocity of any home run hit at Lindsey Nelson Stadium this season.
Burke’s homer marked his 10th of the season, putting him tied for the team-lead with Christian Moore and Billy Amick.
Lipcius formerly broke Todd Helton’s home run record in 2022, hitting a career-high 19 long balls to break the record. Licpius and former Tennessee outfielder/catcher Evan Russell battled for the program lead all season. Russell had originally broke the program record with his 39th home run, but Lipcius surpassed Russell with three home runs in the Vols’ super regional against Notre Dame in 2022.
Lipcius broke the program record in 218 total games played and 625 at-bats, while Burke broke Lipcius’ record in just 137 games and 436 at-bats.
Burke has been on pace to break the record for quite some time now after hitting 14 home runs in his true freshman season at Tennessee. Burke’s freshman season has arguably been his most impressive at Tennessee so far, as he hit 14 blasts in only 95 at-bats. Therefore, Burke hit a home run approximately every seventh at-bat.
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Burke followed up his eye-opening freshman season with a solid sophomore campaign, totaling 16 home runs in 243 at-bats.
It won’t take long for Burke to officially break Lipcius’ record, as the Brentwood, California, native has put together an impressive season at the plate so far. Burke has hit 10 home runs and an SEC-leading 16 doubles in just 98 at-bats in 28 games.
To keep the program record once he breaks it, Burke must keep his foot on the gas as teammate Christian Moore is right behind him with 37 career home runs.
Like Burke, Moore is in his third year at Tennessee. The Brooklyn, New York, native has hit his 37 bombs in 438 at-bats (two ahead of Burke) and 142 total games (five ahead of Burke).
Moore hit 10 home runs in his freshman season, 17 in his sophomore season, and has hit 10 so far this season.
“To me, honestly, I think he’s going to win it,” Moore said about he and Burke approaching the record on Friday. “I think he will hit a little more than I will based on his swing and how strong he is. We haven’t really talked about it honestly and we don’t want to pay it too much attention. We got to win ballgames. Whoever wins it- wins it. Cool.”
Tennessee currently trails Georgia 7-4 in game two of the series. The Vols must win Saturday’s game to even the series and have a chance to win the series on Sunday.
