KNOXVILLE – No. 1/1 Tennessee homered four times to clinch a series victory over Missouri with a11-4 win Saturday night at Lindsey Nelson Stadium.
Tennessee (30-1, 11-0 SEC) scored seven of its 11 runs by way of the home run Saturday night on Rocky Top. The Vols cranked back-to-back-to-back shots out of the park in the third inning, the first time in exactly three years UT has mashed three homers in a row, last done on April 9, 2019 against Lipscomb.
Four innings later, Jordan Beck collected the hit of the game, a laser-beam grand slam to put the Vols ahead by three in the sixth. It marked Beck’s first-career grand slam and the third hit by the Big Orange this season.
Chase Dollander won his sixth game of the season and struck out 10 batters over 6.2 innings of work. Dollander retired the last 10 batters he faced and currently leads the SEC in strikeouts with 70.
Missouri (18-10, 3-8 SEC) got on the board first, hitting back-to-back long balls in the first inning. The Vols quickly answered, smashing three straight long balls to left field in the bottom of the second. Trey Lipscomb started it off with a leadoff shot, followed by Jorel Ortega, then Evan Russell. Mizzou struck right back with two runs in the top of the third to put the Tigers ahead, 4-3, after three innings.
Both pitchers locked into a groove in the middle innings until Beck came to the plate with the bases loaded. With the crowd of 4,249 on its feet, feeling the intensity of the moment, the three-hole hitter got a thigh-high fastball and did not miss, sending a rocket out of Lindsey Nelson Stadium that came off the bat at 105 mph, giving the Vols a 7-3 lead after six innings.
UT added on three more runs in the seventh and one in the eighth. The first three batters of the seventh inning walked, then a Jared Dickey liner to center pushed Russell and Luc Lipcius home. In the eighth, Cortland Lawson doubled to the wall in left to put runners on second and third before Lipcius scored on a wild pitch to cap the scoring for the Vols.
Sunday’s series finale will begin at 12:30 p.m. and will be streamed on SEC Network+ and the ESPN app.
NOTABLE
SERIES SECURED: Tennessee captured its ninth series victory in a row Saturday night. The Volunteers could tie a program record for sweeps in a season with a win tomorrow, and would have a sweep in every series this season (not including tournaments).
HISTORIC RUN: Tennessee has tied the best start all-time in SEC history with its 11th consecutive victory to start the conference slate. The Vols already own the longest win-streak to start SEC play since the league expanded (for the first time) in 1992. LSU in 1991, Ole Miss in 1964 and Alabama in 1940 all started SEC play 11-0, as well.
4 JACKS TO THE POWER OF 10!: For the 10th time this season, the Vols blasted four home runs. The Vols went back-to-back-to-back for the first time since April 9, 2019 and hit their third grand slam of the year. Tennessee is averaging 2.48 homers through 31 games this season, which is on pace to be the third highest in NCAA history.
-UT Athletics
