It took deep into Tennessee's sixth baseball game of the season for Volunteers first baseman Blake Burke to notch his first home run.
The junior from Brentwood, California, connected on a two-run shot to left field in the seventh inning Friday evening to give the No. 9 Vols an 8-2 advantage in their eventual 8-5 downing of Albany before a crowd of 4,629 at Lindsey Nelson Stadium. The homer was the 31st of Burke's career, pulling him within 10 of a school standard.
"Obviously I haven't had one all year, and I was kind of surprised it came at that moment," Burke told reporters afterward. "It was a two-strike count, and I was just trying to put it in play. The wind was blowing out, so it just carried the ball."
Tennessee improved to 5-1 after winning the first of three against the Great Danes. Game two had originally been set for Saturday afternoon at 2, but has been moved up to a noon first pitch for Drew Beam.
Vols head coach Tony Vitello continued to tinker with the batting order, with Burke hitting sixth in the lineup Friday. Burke also hit sixth in Tuesday's 3-2 topping of UNC Asheville but hit second in Wednesday's 16-0 trouncing of East Tennessee State.
"We're just trying to spread the wealth a little bit," Vitello said. "There is a rhyme and reason more times than not, but sometimes it's just, 'Hey, let's try this.' Hopefully we can use the rest of these nonconference games to keep doing this."
Tennessee scored five runs in the third inning, when throwing errors by Albany's shortstop and first baseman seconds apart allowed Kavares Tears, Billy Amick and Burke to score to turn a 2-0 lead into a 5-0 advantage. The Great Danes pulled within 5-2 in the sixth on a two-run homer by Mike Prisco.
AJ Russell, Chris Stamos and AJ Causey each worked three innings for the Vols. Russell was pulled from the game due to soreness, though Vitello did not specify where.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com.