The sun finally came out early Thursday evening at the rain-soaked Southeastern Conference baseball tournament.
So did Tennessee's bats.
The tournament's top seed made its delayed debut a successful one, as the No. 1 Volunteers shredded rival Vanderbilt 10-1 in Hoover, Alabama. Eight Tennessee players collected hits as the Vols improved to 50-7.
"Fifty wins is a lot of wins," Vols catcher Evan Russell told the SEC Network afterward. "I thought we had a really good season last year, and we ended with 50. It just shows that we have a lot of talent on this team from top to bottom."
Drew Gilbert's two-out double to left-center field scored Seth Stephenson to put the Vols up 1-0 in the first inning, and Stephenson scored again in the third on a Jorel Ortega double to left-center. Gilbert then singled to left to score Ortega, and the rout was on.
A Russell RBI, a Luc Lipcius sacrifice fly and a Christian Moore RBI single capped Tennessee's five-run third inning that staked the Vols to a 6-0 lead, and by the time Blake Burke hit the team's first home run with a solo blast to left-center in the fifth inning, it was an 8-1 runaway. Burke's homer was his 11th in 72 at-bats this season.
Blade Tidwell started for Tennessee and worked into the fifth inning. Camden Sewell, the former Cleveland High School standout, entered in the seventh and retired all four batters he faced, including two by strikeout.
"We would love to involve all the guys that we have here, but even if we don't, they're a group that kind of sticks together and enjoys being around one another," Vols coach Tony Vitello said.
The Vols are scheduled to play again Friday night against the winner of Thursday night's late game between LSU and Kentucky.
Kickoff times set
A rare appearance on ABC will highlight the start to Tennessee's 2022 football season.
After opening Thursday, Sept. 1, against visiting Ball State in a game televised at 7 p.m. by the SEC Network, the Volunteers will travel to Pittsburgh's Heinz Field for the second Johnny Majors Classic. ABC will televise the Sept. 10 collision between the Vols and Panthers at 3:30.
Tennessee's last appearance on ABC was its 45-24 victory over Virginia Tech in 2016 that was dubbed "The Battle at Bristol."
The Vols return home Sept. 17 to face Akron, which will have a 7 p.m. start and a digital-only broadcast on ESPN+ and SEC Network+.
Preseason pub
Athlon's preseason football magazine has pegged the Vols at No. 18, which is also fourth among SEC teams.
Alabama is Athlon's pick for No. 1, with Ohio State, Georgia, Clemson and Texas A&M rounding out the top five. There are six SEC teams in the publication's top 25, with Kentucky checking in at No. 21 and Arkansas at No. 22.
Phillips commits
Tennessee received a basketball commitment Thursday from Cade Phillips, a 6-foot-9, 200-pound power forward from Jacksonville, Alabama. The four-star prospect is the No. 14 power forward and the No. 78 overall prospect in the 247Sports.com composite rankings for the 2023 signing cycle.
Phillips picked the Vols despite having strong Alabama bloodlines. He is the son of former Crimson Tide quarterback John David Phillips and the nephew of another former Tide quarterback, Brodie Croyle.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @DavidSPaschall.