The Tennessee Volunteers down on the plains could not have asked for a better day.
The Vols hit six home runs, Drew Beam dominated on the mound for seven innings, and Tennessee defeated Auburn 12-2 in a mercy rule-shortened game to tie the series moving into Sunday.
The Volunteers scored emphatically in the second inning. Dalton Bargo opened the scoring with a home shot to left. Three of the Vols’ next four batters reached base before Christian Moore smashed a grand slam over the wall in right center for a commanding 5-0 lead.
That would be more than enough for Beam, who allowed only two runs in seven innings while striking out eight.
However, it was in the fifth inning that something especially interesting occurred. First baseman Blake Burke launched a towering drive to left center for a solo home run and a 9-0 advantage. Burke’s 41st career home run broke Luc Lipcius’ program record for most all-time.
This is a fantastic accomplishment for the big lefty, who still has plenty of time this season to increase his record. However, the rest of the season should be a particularly fascinating race, as Christian Moore is attempting to set the record. Moore is just two home runs behind Burke.
Saturday was a microcosm of Tennessee’s offensive power this season. Coming into Saturday, the Vols led all of division 1 baseball in OPS (1.073), second in home runs (77) and doubles (82), third in runs per game (10.1), and sixth in batting average (.330). It’s hard to do much better than that.
And with six home runs on Saturday, these figures should
continue to rise. Bargo hit two, Dylan Dreiling hit two, and Burke and Moore each added one. Oh, and Moore knocked in six of Tennessee’s runs for the game.
All in all, it was a big get-right game for the Vols after falling 9-5 on Friday night. We’ll see if they can take advantage tomorrow and claim their third straight SEC series.
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