It is common throughout all levels of baseball for teams to insert their weakest hitter in the ninth and final spot of the batting order.
That was not the case Sunday afternoon at Lindsey Nelson Stadium.
Tennessee third baseman Zane Denton, who has spent most of this season in the cleanup spot, went 3-for-3 and drove in five runs from the bottom of the lineup as the No. 12 Volunteers completed a three-game sweep of No. 21 Texas A&M with a 9-6 triumph before a crowd of 4,521. The transfer from Alabama hit a two-run home run in the third inning, connected for a solo shot in the fifth and then added a two-run single in the seventh.
“I don’t remember the last time I’ve hit there,” Denton told reporters afterward. “After today, I kind of hope I stick there for a while.”
The Vols rebounded from last weekend’s three-game sweep at Missouri, where they were outscored 23-6. Tennessee racked up 27 runs on 31 hits at Texas A&M’s expense to improve to 19-6 overall, while the Aggies fell to 15-9 and to 1-5 in Southeastern Conference play.
Denton, a 6-foot-1, 200-pounder who played at Ravenwood High School in the Nashville suburb of Brentwood, is batting .329 this season after Sunday’s stellar showing with 26 RBIs in 25 games. He hit for the cycle and drove in six runs during a 23-4 drubbing of Morehead State on March 10.
“We wanted to have some balance in there, and that’s kind of how it set up with some right-left stuff,” Vols coach Tony Vitello said. “He’s obviously got a good skill set, and he knows how to play the game, and the way he plays when he has a little edge to him kind of fits in here.”
Tennessee’s sweep was its sixth in league play since the start of last season. Blake Burke and Hunter Easley had two hits apiece, and the Vols wound up using nine pitchers.
Camden Sewell, the former Cleveland High standout, recorded the final two outs to cement Tennessee’s fourth straight win, a streak that began with Tuesday’s 7-0 blanking of Western Carolina.
“This thing is all about team effort,” Vitello said, “and I thought this week that the guys came together as much as they have.”
The Vols will host UNC Asheville at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, but looming the next four weekends are series against No. 1 LSU, No. 3 Florida, No. 5 Arkansas and No. 4 Vanderbilt.
“There is plenty ahead of us to prepare for, and there is plenty ahead of us to look forward to in terms of making progress,” Vitello said. “I think our outfield defense and our baserunning have improved.”
Tennessee will be competing in Baton Rouge for the first time since getting swept in 2018. The two teams did not play in 2019, and the outbreak of the coronavirus canceled the 2020 season before any league games were staged.
The Vols have defeated the Tigers six straight times, including a sweep in Lindsey Nelson Stadium during the 2021 season and a sweep in the NCAA super regional in Knoxville that same year. The teams played once last season, with Tennessee prevailing 5-2 at the SEC tournament.
“It’s going to be a crazy environment,” Denton said. “It’s one of the craziest places I’ve ever played. I’m really looking forward to the opportunity.”
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com.