Tennessee notched its eighth consecutive victory Tuesday night with a 13-3 downing of Wofford, but not before a little football flavor.
Volunteers fifth-year senior nose tackle Elijah Simmons, all 6-foot-2 and 340 pounds of him, performed the national anthem before an appreciative crowd inside Lindsey Nelson Stadium, and coach Josh Heupel threw out the ceremonial pitch. Heupel's left-handed hurl was sandwiched between Monday night's Big Orange Caravan visit to Chattanooga and Wednesday night's final caravan stop at the Tri-Cities.
The No. 18 Vols won in seven innings, with left fielder Jared Dickey going 3-for-4 with three RBIs.
"We just had a good approach all night," Dickey said.
Tuesday's game was scoreless until Dickey's triple to left field in the third inning scored Maui Ahuna and Hunter Ensley. A failed pickoff attempt by the Terriers (32-12) allowed Dickey to stroll home for a 3-0 advantage.
Zander Sechrist and AJ Russell combined to pitch five scoreless innings for Tennessee, allowing one hit.
The Vols blew the game open with a four-run fifth inning, which contained Blake Burke's single into right that scored Charlie Taylor and Ahuna, and Christian Moore's two-run home run to right-center in the ensuing at-bat. Dylan Dreiling's three-run homer to right-center in the sixth inning gave Tennessee the 13-3 lead.
Tennessee will take its streak to Georgia this weekend for a three-game series that begins Friday.
"We just wanted to keep playing good ball," Vols coach Tony Vitello said. "It's a good way to start May."
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com.