University of Tennessee Athletics
Friday, March 18
Knoxville
6:30 PM
University of Tennessee
17-1, 1-0
8
vs
3
South Carolina
10-7, 0-1
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3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
South Carolina
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
2
3
5
0
Tennessee
1
2
0
0
0
1
1
3
X
8
10
1
Pitching, Long Ball Lead #2 Vols to 8-3 Win in SEC Opener
March 18, 2022 | Baseball
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Blasting four home runs and a terrific start from Chase Burns, the second-ranked Tennessee baseball team defeated South Carolina, 8-3, in the Southeastern Conference opener Friday night at Lindsey Nelson Stadium.
Burns was electric from the first pitch, punching out nine batters over a career high 6.2 innings. He gave up one run and only allowed four baserunners in the outing. The true freshman boasts an impressive 0.81 ERA after starting all five of Tennessee's Friday night games so far this season.
Camden Sewell also put forth a fantastic outing for the Volunteers out of the bullpen. He closed the door in the seventh inning, entering with a 2-0 count on Colin Burgess before striking him out looking to end the frame. Sewell followed with a 1-2-3 eighth inning and finished with three strikeouts.
The bats, as they have all season, provided some big-time power. The Vols (17-1, 1-0 SEC) hit four long balls and tallied 10 hits in the game. Evan Russell and Courtland Lawson accounted for two hits each and both smacked a homer. Russell drove in three while Lawson collected two RBIs.
The offense backed the Tennessee pitching early. Drew Gilbert, in his first game back from a hamstring injury, put the Vols on the board first, ripping a single to left field to score Jorel Ortega in the bottom of the first.
In the second inning, after Russell walked, Lawson gave the Vols some early distance from the Gamecocks, sending a belt-high fastball over the wall in left center to push UT to a 3-0 lead after two innings.
Both pitchers started to find their groove as the innings wore on. South Carolina scored in the fifth after Burgess walked and came all the way around to score.
Just when South Carolina pitcher Noah Hall started to settle in, Luc Lipcius put the Gamecocks back on the defensive, launching a moonshot into right center for his fourth home run of the season. The solo shot increased Tennessee's lead back to three after six innings.
After a masterful outing from Burns, Sewell entered with two outs in the seventh and struck out Burgess looking on a fastball painted on the black. Ortega almost immediately capitalized on that momentum, sending a one-out solo blast over the left-field porch to increase the Big Orange advantage to 5-1 in the seventh.
UT hit its fourth and final homer of the night in the bottom of the eighth as Russell sent a liner high over the wall in left field, scoring Lipcius and pinch runner Ethan Payne. Lipcius and Blake Burke both walked to set up the three-run jack.
South Carolina scored a pair of unearned runs in the top of the ninth, before the Volunteers closed out the SEC opener.
WAAAAAY OUTTA HERE
With four home runs today, the Volunteers have totaled 50 big flies in 18 games this year. Entering the day, the next-best home run total for a team was Mercer, who had 38.
RISING TO THE OCCASION
Friday night starter Chase Burns has faced two Power 5 opponents this season, Texas and South Carolina. In those two games he is averaging 9.5 strikeouts, a significant bump from the 5.0 he averages against non-Power 5 opponents.
SQUARING IT UP
Of qualifying hitters (players with 2 plate appearances per game and 75 percent of games played) eight of the 10 Vol batters are slugging .660 or higher.
Burns was electric from the first pitch, punching out nine batters over a career high 6.2 innings. He gave up one run and only allowed four baserunners in the outing. The true freshman boasts an impressive 0.81 ERA after starting all five of Tennessee's Friday night games so far this season.
Camden Sewell also put forth a fantastic outing for the Volunteers out of the bullpen. He closed the door in the seventh inning, entering with a 2-0 count on Colin Burgess before striking him out looking to end the frame. Sewell followed with a 1-2-3 eighth inning and finished with three strikeouts.
The bats, as they have all season, provided some big-time power. The Vols (17-1, 1-0 SEC) hit four long balls and tallied 10 hits in the game. Evan Russell and Courtland Lawson accounted for two hits each and both smacked a homer. Russell drove in three while Lawson collected two RBIs.
The offense backed the Tennessee pitching early. Drew Gilbert, in his first game back from a hamstring injury, put the Vols on the board first, ripping a single to left field to score Jorel Ortega in the bottom of the first.
In the second inning, after Russell walked, Lawson gave the Vols some early distance from the Gamecocks, sending a belt-high fastball over the wall in left center to push UT to a 3-0 lead after two innings.
Both pitchers started to find their groove as the innings wore on. South Carolina scored in the fifth after Burgess walked and came all the way around to score.
Just when South Carolina pitcher Noah Hall started to settle in, Luc Lipcius put the Gamecocks back on the defensive, launching a moonshot into right center for his fourth home run of the season. The solo shot increased Tennessee's lead back to three after six innings.
After a masterful outing from Burns, Sewell entered with two outs in the seventh and struck out Burgess looking on a fastball painted on the black. Ortega almost immediately capitalized on that momentum, sending a one-out solo blast over the left-field porch to increase the Big Orange advantage to 5-1 in the seventh.
UT hit its fourth and final homer of the night in the bottom of the eighth as Russell sent a liner high over the wall in left field, scoring Lipcius and pinch runner Ethan Payne. Lipcius and Blake Burke both walked to set up the three-run jack.
South Carolina scored a pair of unearned runs in the top of the ninth, before the Volunteers closed out the SEC opener.
WAAAAAY OUTTA HERE
With four home runs today, the Volunteers have totaled 50 big flies in 18 games this year. Entering the day, the next-best home run total for a team was Mercer, who had 38.
RISING TO THE OCCASION
Friday night starter Chase Burns has faced two Power 5 opponents this season, Texas and South Carolina. In those two games he is averaging 9.5 strikeouts, a significant bump from the 5.0 he averages against non-Power 5 opponents.
SQUARING IT UP
Of qualifying hitters (players with 2 plate appearances per game and 75 percent of games played) eight of the 10 Vol batters are slugging .660 or higher.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Burns, Chase (4-0)
L: Noah Hall (0-3)
Batting:
RBI: Thad Ector 1 ; Colin Burgess 1 ; Josiah Sightler 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Jack Mahoney 1 ; Talmadge LeCroy 1 ; Colin Burgess 1
Batting:
HR: Ortega, Jorel 1 ; Lipcius, Luc 1 ; Russell, Evan 1 ; Lawson, Cortland 1
RBI: Ortega, Jorel 1 ; Gilbert, Drew 1 ; Lipcius, Luc 1 ; Russell, Evan 3 ; Lawson, Cortland 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Ortega, Jorel 2 ; Lipcius, Luc 2 ; Payne, Ethan 1 ; Russell, Evan 2 ; Lawson, Cortland 1
Game Leaders
AB
3
R
2
H
2
RBI
3
AB
3
R
1
H
2
RBI
2
AB
4
R
2
H
1
RBI
1
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
1B/OF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
OF/LHP
/ Baseball
1B
/ BaseballINF
/ Baseball
INF/OF
/ BaseballC/OF
/ Baseball
RHP
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