Back at home.
Back in control.
Tennessee opened its final scheduled baseball series of the season inside Lindsey Nelson Stadium in resounding fashion Friday night, as the No. 23 Volunteers used a seven-run third inning to thump No. 17 Kentucky 10-6 before a crowd of 4,502. The Vols improved to 34-16 overall and to 13-12 in Southeastern Conference play, and they are a sparkling 31-4 at home.
"Right now, our guys are playing with no regrets," Tennessee coach Tony Vitello said after his team's 10th win in 12 games. "They've improved in a lot of different areas. It doesn't make them perfect, but they're having fun and playing together."
Maui Ahuna drew a leadoff walk in the third inning, and Hunter Ensley quickly broke a 1-1 deadlock with a two-run home run to left field. Jared Dickey followed with a homer to right-center to extend Tennessee's lead to 4-1, and a Blake Burke walk and a Christian Moore single into right field set the stage for Griffin Merritt's three-run blast to left that made it 7-1.
After a Zane Denton walk, Cal Stark doubled to left to bring Denton home for an 8-1 advantage.
Merritt struck again with a two-run homer to right in the sixth inning, which provided Tennessee a 10-2 lead. Vols starting pitcher Andrew Lindsey nearly worked seven full innings, allowing six hits and three runs, with two of them earned.
"I just felt good at the plate," Merritt said. "I've felt good the last couple of weeks."
The Vols and Wildcats (34-14, 14-11) play again at noon Saturday on the SEC Network.
Lady Vols advance
Lair Beautae, Kiki Milloy and Katie Taylor homered Friday night as top-seeded Tennessee clinched a spot in Saturday's SEC tournament championship game with a 7-6 topping of fifth-seeded Alabama in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
The Lady Vols will face 10th-seeded South Carolina, which followed up its 2-1 quarterfinal upset of second-seeded Georgia with a 3-2 semifinal stunning Friday of third-seeded Auburn.
Tennessee has reached the tournament title game for the first time since 2015.
"We have a mission, and we're just trying to accomplish it," Beautae told ESPN2. "This is what we've been working all season for. This would show that we're ready for the next step, and that's the World Series."
Beautae's gland slam in the first inning countered Alabama's four-run outburst, and Milloy's 23rd homer of the season put Tennessee up 5-4 in the second. Taylor's two-run blast in the fourth gave the league's regular-season champions their biggest lead at 7-4.
The Lady Vols advanced to the semifinals with a 4-0 quarterfinal blanking of eighth-seeded Florida early Friday afternoon. Ashley Rogers, the former Meigs County standout and the recently named SEC softball scholar-athlete of the year, allowed just three hits in seven innings while recording eight strikeouts in picking up the win.
"We didn't want to be content with what we did in the regular season," Rogers told the SEC Network. "We wanted to come in here and compete and compete every single pitch and every single game."
Said Milloy: "We're not done. We're still here, and we hope to have a long postseason."
Saturday afternoon's title game will be televised at 3 by ESPN.
Hooker's new deal
Former Tennessee quarterback Hendon Hooker has been signed by the Detroit Lions to a four-year deal at $5.72 million, which includes a $1.16 million signing bonus.
Hooker wore No. 5 with the Vols but will wear No. 12 with the Lions.
Edwards to SMU
SMU on Friday announced the signing of former Tennessee point guard B.J. Edwards, who entered the NCAA transfer portal last weekend.
The 6-foot-3, 188-pounder signed with the Vols as a four-star prospect out of Knoxville Catholic, but he played in only 14 of Tennessee's 36 games. Edwards averaged 4.3 minutes in those games with 1.2 points and 0.6 rebounds.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com.