The Tennessee Volunteers entered Tuesday’s game against Belmont needing one home run to reach 100 for the season.
They wound up hitting six.
Levi Clark, Jay Abernathy, Garrett Wright, Henry Ford, Trent Grindlinger and Hunter High each went deep at Lindsey Nelson Stadium, with High’s two-run blast serving as the final swing of an 11-1 rout in eight innings. Tennessee became the first team in Southeastern Conference history to compile 100 homers in five consecutive seasons.
“We’ve been very fortunate around here to be around some really good players,” Tennessee first-year coach Josh Elander said afterward in a press conference. “They’ve been different offenses, but it’s been cool to see. We’ve done it with lefties and righties, and it’s a cool, little feather in the cap for these players and the players who were here before.”
The No. 24 Vols improved to 35-18 after what was likely their final home appearance of the season. They are 28-10 at Lindsey Nelson this spring, producing six-homer games during Saturday night’s 14-9 win over Texas and again over the out-manned Bruins, who fell to 19-33.
Tennessee also completed a 14-0 record in midweek games, the only SEC program to go undefeated in such contests. The Vols had not gone undefeated in midweek pairings so far this century, but they won this season’s midweek matchups by the combined score of 152-33.
“I think it’s just our respect for college baseball and how competitive it can be,” Elander said. “Anybody can win on any day.”
Nic Abraham started on the mound and had Tennessee’s best midweek showing of the season, working nearly six full innings. The 6-foot-5, 218-pound sophomore from Elk Grove, California, yielded one run on four hits while striking out four.
Following a scoreless first inning, the Vols opened the second with a Grindlinger walk and then took a 2-0 lead on Clark’s one-out home run to left-center field that served as Tennessee’s 100th of the season. The Vols would open the fifth inning with Abernathy’s homer to right and Wright’s homer to left, and Ford’s one-out shot to left made it 5-1.
Grindlinger opened Tennessee’s six-run eighth with a homer to left, and High capped it with his shot to left. It was just High’s 13th game of the season.
“It was awesome,” High said. “This place is home. I grew up a Tennessee Vols fan, and I’m just getting to do what I love with some great teammates. It means the world to me.”
Said Elander: “Hunter High has been a true program-grinder. He’s waited his turn and has continued to get better. It was a pretty cool moment for him.”
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Tennessee will wrap up its regular season with a three-game series at Oklahoma, which begins Thursday night at 7:30 Eastern.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com.