From dramatic to dominant.
Bottling the momentum from Friday night’s comeback victory over No. 4 Vanderbilt that took 12 innings to decide, the Tennessee Volunteers erupted for nine runs during the first inning Saturday afternoon and went on to crush the Commodores 17-1 inside Lindsey Nelson Stadium. The seven-inning blowout was aided by Vandy’s pitching staff, which allowed 10 walks in giving up a season-high runs total.
“That’s something you want to come to work to every day,” Tennessee coach Tony Vitello said in a news conference. “Obviously you can’t recreate or have what happened last night too often with the crowd and the theatrics and everything that went with it, but you can make the choice to come to the park the way the guys did today.”
Maui Ahuna drove in five runs and Kavares Tears three for the Vols, who improved to 25-14 overall and to 7-10 in Southeastern Conference play with their sixth straight triumph over their in-state rivals dating back to last season. Tennessee junior pitcher Chase Dollander went all seven innings, throwing a season-high 105 pitches and tallying nine strikeouts.
The Vols entered this series on a four-game losing streak, but now it’s Vanderbilt that has lost three in a row heading into the Sunday afternoon (1 on ESPN2) series finale. The Commodores dropped to 29-10 overall and to 13-4 within the league.