Tennessee checked off three notable boxes with Saturday afternoon’s 7-6 topping of Vanderbilt at Hawkins Field.
The top-ranked Volunteers knocked off the Commodores for a ninth consecutive time, and Tennessee clinched an eighth straight Southeastern Conference series, a feat even the 2022 Vols could not achieve on their way to becoming the top overall seed in that season’s NCAA tournament.
Most important of all is that Tennessee’s latest triumph coupled with Kentucky’s 10-1 loss at Florida earlier Saturday enabled the Vols to pull into a tie with the Wildcats atop the SEC East Division with 19-7 league records. Tennessee and Kentucky are down to their final four SEC games, with the Vols playing the series finale at Vandy on Sunday (3 p.m. Eastern on ESPN2) before hosting South Carolina next weekend.
“We’re looking to go 1-0 tomorrow,” Tennessee coach Tony Vitello said Saturday evening in a news conference when asked about the rising stakes this time of year. “With this group, we kind of let that stuff take care of itself. The keys to the car are ready to be handed off to these guys.”
Tennessee improved to 42-9 overall with Saturday’s victory in Nashville, while the Commodores dropped to 33-18 and to 11-15 within the league.