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Tennessee baseball: Three takeaways from Vols’ weekend sweep of South Carolina

By Caleb Calhoun

Tennessee's Evan Russell (6) is congratulated by Luc Lipcius (40) after Russell hit a home run during the college baseball game between Tennessee and Western Carolina on Tuesday, March 30, 2021 at Lindsey Nelson Stadium in Knoxville, Tenn.Kns Ut Baseball
Tennessee's Evan Russell (6) is congratulated by Luc Lipcius (40) after Russell hit a home run during the college baseball game between Tennessee and Western Carolina on Tuesday, March 30, 2021 at Lindsey Nelson Stadium in Knoxville, Tenn.Kns Ut Baseball /
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The red-hot play of Tennessee baseball continues. In their SEC-opening series this past weekend, the Vols swept the South Carolina Gamecocks. Keep in mind this is a South Carolina team that took two of three from the Texas Longhorns, the only team that beat the Vols.

Tony Vitello’s team, which was  ranked anywhere from No. 9 to No. 2, won the first game 8-3, the the next game 5-2 and the final game 10-0. They never trailed all weekend and only completed two innings, the first two of the final game, when they didn’t have the lead. Simply put their performance was dominant.

Rocky Top improves to 19-1 overall and 3-0 in the SEC with a Tuesday matchup up next against the Butler Bulldogs before a weekend three-game series at the Ole Miss Rebels. South Carolina falls to 10-9 and 0-3 in the SEC and will next face The Citadel Bulldogs Tuesday. Here are three things we learned from Tennessee baseball’s sweep.

1. Vols’ lineup continues to go long.

Home runs have been a staple of the baseball and softball teams at UT so far this year, and this past weekend was no different. Both scored a majority of their runs by going long. The Vols scored 15 of their 23 runs against South Carolina off homers, including seven of their eight runs on Friday.

Evan Russell was the star with one on Friday and two on Sunday, driving in six runs over the weekend. Luc Lipcius added one Friday and one Saturday. Jorel Ortega, Cortland Lawson, Jordan Beck, Trey Lipscomb and Christian Moore all went long as well over the weekend.

2. Baserunning was nearly perfect.

It wasn’t needed because of their power, but Tennessee baseball was excellent on the basepaths as well this weekend. They had five stolen bases and were never caught stealing. Seth Stephenson stole a base Saturday and Sunday and scored two runs Sunday off doubles by Beck and Drew Gilbert.

Beck and Gilbert stole one and two bases respectively Saturday and scored three and two runs respectively over the weekend. Ortega, Stephenson, Beck, Gilbert and Moore all had doubles, and Blake Burke came away with a triple. Simply put, the Vols made the most of their opportunities.

3. Pitching was superb but not backed up by defense.

You couldn’t ask for much more on the mound. Chase Burns allowed one earned run in just under seven innings on Friday, and Chase Dollander allowed one earned run in five innings Saturday. Drew Beam pitched a shutout in just under eight innings Sunday. Seven relievers saw action on the mound and allowed one earned run in just over six innings.

Next. Ranking Vols' five College World Series teams. dark

However, errors were still a problem. If there’s one drawback from the weekend, Tennessee baseball had three errors. A fielding percentage of .972 isn’t horrible, but there were two unearned runs allowed Friday. This could come back to bite the Vols in the future if they aren’t as elite everywhere else as they were this past weekend.

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