Maui Ahuna moved up to leadoff batter Sunday afternoon for the Tennessee Volunteers and drove in four runs.
Jared Dickey moved down from leadoff spot and hit a grand slam.
There was plenty of offense to go around for the Vols, who wrapped up a three-game sweep of Gonzaga with a 17-9 thumping before 4,558 spectators at Lindsey Nelson Stadium. It was the 11th consecutive win for Tennessee, which improved to 11-2 this season, and it was the first lineup featuring Ahuna, Christian Moore, Blake Burke, Zane Denton, Dickey and Griffin Merritt at the top.
"Part of it was for him to catch up on at-bats," Tennessee coach Tony Vitello said of Ahuna, the heralded transfer from Kansas who was ineligible for the first eight games. "He got shorted last night, but it was also an opportunity for the coaching staff to look at the lineup the way we had it today. Jared was productive today, so it all worked out the way you want.
"That lineup has a chance to be our best lineup."
In Saturday night's 7-2 downing of the Bulldogs, the Vols led with Dickey followed by Moore, Burke, Denton, Merritt and Ahuna.
Dickey's grand slam Sunday transpired in the third inning and instantly erased a 2-0 lead for Gonzaga (1-10). Ahuna had a two-run double and Moore a two-run homer to cap Tennessee's eight-run outburst in the third, with Moore's blast followed by Bulldogs starting pitcher Ty Buckner throwing at Burke.
Buckner was quickly tossed from the game.
Merritt had a two-run homer in the fourth to extend Tennessee's lead to 10-3, and the Vols wound up compiling 17 runs without a single hit from Burke, who had a combined 14 RBIs in the four previous conests.
"It's weird, but it shows you how deep our offense is," Dickey said. "We've got a lot of guys on our bench who are really special."
Ahuna, who was an All-Big 12 selection last season, is just happy he's no longer on the bench and can help his new team.
"Last season, Tennessee was pretty much the only team I watched," Ahuna said. "I'm watching their fan base and their players play, and I wanted to be like them. I wanted to come here, play ball and have fun. All the players made me feel that this was the best place to play baseball in America.
"Knowing that I wasn't going to be eligible for the first two weeks, my main goal was to be a good teammate and support them as much as I could."
Tennessee will host Boston College on Tuesday night before welcoming Morehead State for a three-game weekend series.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com.