Tennessee baseball routs Ole Miss in series win

Tennessee baseball matched their Friday offensive firepower on Sunday, scoring 15 runs in both games and routing Ole Miss along the way to a series win. After a disappointing end to the Alabama series last weekend, the Vols responded after a Saturday loss and won Sunday's rubber match against the Rebels.

With Sunday's 15-4 win over Ole Miss, Tennessee improved its record to 21-4 (3-3), its first conference series win in its second attempt. Tennessee's bats set this team apart from most of the SEC and other teams throughout the country.

This series looked very similar to the Alabama series after the first two games. Tennessee opened the weekend series with a run-rule 15-3 victory over the Rebels. Ole Miss came back and won Saturday's matchup 8-5, but Sunday was where the difference was, with Tennessee's bats getting hot again and run-ruling Ole Miss again.

Billy Amick and Christian Moore continue to battle for the most home runs on Tennessee's roster. Moore homered three times this weekend to get to ten home runs on the year, while Amick's grand slam on Sunday also gave him ten home runs. That grand slam also sealed the deal on Sunday and ended the game early. 

Kavares Tears continued tearing it up at the plate. He went 7-for-12 in this series and continues leading the Vols at the plate, hitting .405 this year. The Redshirt Sophomore has been the most consistent hitter for Tennessee this year, and he continues to carry that consistency into SEC play. 

This year's Tennessee lineup is as explosive at the plate as ever and can help carry the Vols deep into the postseason. Tony Vitello has brought some powerful bats to Knoxville in previous years, but watching the guys on this roster develop under Vitello and earn their time makes it much more fun to watch.

"Everybody is dangerous, and there's a good bench to call on, too," Vitello said post-game. "It's a strength of the team, but I really like how we play defense and run the bases for the most part, like we did this weekend. I think defense and base running were better than they were last weekend. So, when those scores are tight, that's something that is going to make a difference for us.”

Tennessee needs to continue improving on defense and the base path, but they still have some time to work out the kinks. The Vols will take on Tennessee Tech in their midweek matchup ahead of a weekend series with Georgia at Lindsey-Nelson.