Coach Tony Vitello returned from a three-game suspension and shortstop Maui Ahuna made his season debut, but the star of Tennessee's baseball show continues to be Blake Burke.
The sophomore first baseman went 3-for-5 with a career-best five RBIs as the Volunteers defeated Charleston Southern 6-1 on Tuesday for their seventh consecutive triumph. Burke is hitting .394 through nine games that have yielded a 7-2 start, and he has racked up five home runs and 12 RBIs.
Burke's two-run single through the right side in the first inning gave the Vols all the offense they would need, and his two-run homer in the sixth capped his stellar outing.
Jared Dickey and Griffin Merritt added two hits apiece, while starting pitcher Zander Sechrist worked into the fifth inning, allowing three hits while tallying five strikeouts. Sechrist has yet to give up a run through 11 innings this season.
The Vols have worked through some early season turbulence by winning seven straight by the combined score of 68-5.
"I think they've handled that stuff about as well as you can," Vitello told reporters Tuesday night. "At the root of everything, these kids just want to play baseball, and they've handled this well."
Ahuna, a Big 12 first-team selection last spring with Kansas, went 1-4 a day after Tennessee announced he was eligible. The junior singled up the middle in the sixth inning.
Tennessee, which is ranked No. 2 in this week's USA Today poll, and Charleston Southern will play again Wednesday afternoon at 4.
Football penalties
Sports Illustrated reported Tuesday that four former Tennessee football staff members are expected to receive three- to five-year NCAA show-cause penalties after acknowledging they committed recruiting violations under former head coach Jeremy Pruitt.
The four are inside linebackers coach Brian Niedermeyer, outside linebackers coach Shelton Felton, director of player personnel Drew Hughes and student assistant Michael Magness. Show-cause penalties keep people from working in college athletics for a certain length of time and require universities to show why they would hire such an individual.
Resolutions have yet to be determined for Pruitt and former defensive coordinator Derrick Ansley, who spent the past two seasons in the NFL and recently was promoted to defensive coordinator of the Los Angeles Chargers. Pruitt spent the 2021 season as a defensive analyst with the New York Giants and was out of coaching last year.
Felton and Niedermeyer have been coaching in the high school ranks since being terminated at Tennessee.
ESPN reported Tuesday that Pruitt and Tennessee are still contesting their parts of the case and that university officials are optimistic a resolution can be reached with the NCAA and that the school can avoid a Committee on Infractions hearing.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com.