'Voltellos Sweep LSU:
Tennessee picked up its first SEC sweep of the season this weekend over LSU at Lindsey Nelson Stadium.
The Volunteers needed a late-inning rally on Saturday but never trailed in either the Friday or Sunday games.
Tennessee improved to 10-5 in SEC play and 30-6 overall.
The defending national champs fell to just 3-12 in SEC play and 23-15 overall.
Friday night
Billy Amick wasted no time in his return to the lineup. The Vols’ 3rd baseman hit a 2-run home run to left field on the first pitch he saw to give Tennessee an early 2-0 lead in the bottom of the 1st inning.
LSU had runners on the corners with two outs for Tommy White in the top of the 3rd when the Vols turned to AJ Causey, who was replaced by Chris Stamos in the Friday night starting role. White singled on a grounder up the middle to put LSU on the board but the Tigers would leave the bases loaded after Causey struck out Mac Bingham.
Tennessee added a run in the 3rd inning on a bases loaded walk to Dylan Dreiling but a double play that saw Blake Burke thrown out at the plate kept the score at 3-1.
The Vols added three runs in the 5th inning, including a Dreiling solo home run to take a 6-1 lead.
The Tigers scored two runs in the 9th inning and brought the tying run to the plate but lefty Kirby Connell closed it out for the 6-3 win.
In relief, Causey threw 4.2 scoreless innings and struck out seven to earn the win.
Saturday
The Tigers got on the board in the top of the 2nd when a throwing error on a bunt to 3rd base scored one.
Later in the inning with runners on 2nd and 3rd with no outs, Beam got back-to-back strikeouts, then a ground out to strand both runners, a theme LSU would repeat throughout the day. The Tigers would leave eight runners on base in the game and were just 1-of-10 at the plate with runners in scoring position.
LSU saved their ace for game two and Luke Holman took a no-hitter into the 6th inning.
Blake Burke’s infield single with one out in the 6th broke up the no-no and extended Burke’s NCAA-best hitting streak to 25 games.
Billy Amick then doubled down the left field line to put Vols on 2nd and 3rd with one out.
After a strikeout, the Tigers turned to lefty Griffin Herring, who gave up a 2-run single to Dylan Dreiling that put Tennessee on top 2-1.
Amick’s solo home run off the scoreboard in right field made it 3-1.
Nate Snead threw two shutout innings to close the game out. His 8th inning was extremely impressive, getting a 1st-pitch pop out and then back-to-back 3-pitch strikeouts.
Beam scattered eight hits over 6.2 innings but only allowed one unearned run. He struck out five and walked three but the punch outs came in critical ABs.
For the second game in a row, LSU brought the tying run to the plate in the 9th but once again didn’t produce as Tommy White popped out to give the Vols the series win.
Sunday
Tennessee broke out the brooms in their Sunday cream jerseys.
A Cal Stark 1-out single in the bottom of the 3rd was the Vols’ first hit of the game. After advancing to 2nd on a Christian Moore groundout, Blake Burke hit a 2-out, 2-run oppo home run into the left field porches to put Tennessee up 2-0.
It was Burke’s 12th home run of the season, 42nd for his career and extended his hitting streak to 26 games.
A 2-out single in top of the 4ht inning cut the Vols lead to 2-1.
LSU’s Hayden Travinski sent a 2-out, 2-strike pitch into the left field porches in the top of the 6th to tie the game at 2-2. In a game that saw an expanded strike zone for much of it, Tennessee’s dugout felt starter Zander Sechrist got squeezed during the game-tying AB.
But the Vols quickly retook the lead in the bottom of the inning.
Christian Moore led off with a solo HR into the LF porches to put the Vols back on top 3-2.
Then with two outs in the bottom of the 7th, C Mo added three much-needed insurance runs with a 3-run bomb to left field to make it a 6-2 game.
The home run was the 2nd baseman’s 2nd long ball of the game and a team-leading 15th for the season.
It also tied him with Burke for the most career home runs in program history with 42.
A Tommy White 2-run bomb over the porches cut the Vols’s lead to 6-4 in the top of the 8th but Stark got both of those runs back with a 2-out, 2-run bloop wind-aided double to shallow left center field to make it 8-4.
Aaron Combs got the final six outs to earn the save.
LSU entered the series finale hitting a league worst .198 vs left-handed pitches in SEC play.
Sechrist solid once again, allowing two runs in 5.2 innings while striking out five and walking one.
Big Orange Notes:
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Billy Amick had missed eight games before game one of the series. His first-pitch home run on Friday night was just the start of a nice weekend at the plate. Amick hit .400 (4-of-10) with two home runs and a double.
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Blake Burke’s 26-game hitting streak is tied for the 2nd longest in program history. Condredge Holloway had a 27-game hitting streak in 1975.
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Kirby Connell made his 105th career appearance in Friday night’s game, which set a new program record. The high-leverage lefty has become a multi-inning reliever this season for a Tennessee pitching staff that doesn’t have the depth it had in recent years.
— Aaron Combs earned his first save of the season on Sunday. It was his best outing of the year and a very encouraging sign going forward.
— Tennessee hosts Bellarmine tonight before a weekend trip up I75 to face Kentucky. The Wildcats are a very surprising 14-1 in SEC play to date.
@Mattdixon3'