Tennessee Baseball: Vols claim series against Georgia

I’m going to try and keep a level head while writing this but I would be lying if I did not say the basketball loss does not hurt, because it does. However, this is about baseball and it was a big weekend in Rocky Top. The BaseVols are up to #4 in the rankings after a huge weekend series win over the Georgia Bulldogs. Let’s get into it.

It was a beautiful Friday evening in Knoxville. The sun was out and the weather was warm and the bats were hot… for only one team. Most fans were probably focused on the basketball game that would start later Friday Night, but the baseball team did not do a good job setting the tone for the evening. By the top of the 3rd inning, it was 8-0 and it felt over at that point. The Vols were able to salvage 2 runs in the bottom of the 3rd. It meant nothing as the Bulldogs went on to a 16-2 run-rule victory. This was one of, if not the most embarrassing home loss of the Tony Vitello era. The next two games officially became must-wins as losing a home series in this year’s tough SEC would sting.

Saturday saw the largest crowd in LNS history which was the 10th time this season that record had been broken. Expect it to be broken again for the LSU series. This game lived up to the billing of the top 2 HR-hitting teams facing off. The Vols hit 2 grand slams (Bargo, Dreiling) and 2 other HRs. Georgia hit 4 HRs as well with Charlie Condon hitting 2. Pitching was just not strong from either side but Kirby Connell had a decent outing for the Vols only allowing 3 of the 11 runs scored by the Bulldogs and getting his 3rd win of the season. This was a great game to watch with plenty of fireworks especially because the Vols came out on top 16-11, setting up a huge rubber match on Sunday. So far in SEC play the Vols are 1-1 in rubber games with a loss to Alabama and a win against Ole Miss. Sundays are quickly becoming the Sechrist and Snead show and I am all the way here for it. The pitchers combined for 8 SO (7 for Sechrist) and 6 hits. The Bulldogs had to use 7 pitchers compared to the Vols’ 2 and that was the game. The pitching was the difference in this game. The Vols handed the Dawgs their first shutout of the season, losing 7-0. This was a big win for multiple reasons- the Vols have won 2 SEC series’ losing the other very closely, and Georgia fans don’t care about baseball again! Looking ahead the Vols do not have a midweek game and will be on the road against Auburn this weekend. This really should be a sweep but I’ll never complain about winning an SEC road series. Go Vols!