HATTIESBURG, Miss. — Due to Tennessee wrapping up game one of the Hattiesburg Super Regional with a loss to Southern Miss on Sunday, Blake Burke's 20th birthday was off to a poor start.
The first baseman was held hitless in the game while going 0-for-4 in the six-hole. On top of a lackluster personal performance, his team was now on the brink of elimination and tasked with a quick turn around to game two.
However, things changed in a hurry for the left-handed slugger.
In game two, Burke walked to the plate in the fourth inning as the seventh batter in the lineup with the Vols trailing by three runs. He had Griffin Merritt on first base after the designated hitter singled to score the team's first run of the game.
What followed was Burke uncorking on a ball hit as far as you'll see in a baseball game.
The slugger swung at a knee-high slider and lifted it 479 feet into the parking lot of St. Thomas Aquinas Church beyond the right field wall. As the ball sailed over the Southern Miss fans who were camped out on the right field hill, he began his slow trot to first moments after a bat flip.
When Burke completed his trip around the bases, touched home and began to don the "Daddy" hat and fur coat, the momentum had officially swung in the favor of the Vols.
"I think it’s kind of like a basketball game," said coach Tony Vitello. "Two points is two points. I’ve been buddies with basketball coaches and we have the best one ever at our place. Sometimes when you have an emphatic dunk, it can kind of shift the momentum a little bit. At times for us this year, he has hit them so long that it kind of changes the entire mood in the dugout and not just based off the scoreboard.
"Today, I think it was just to make sure we got something on the board. We knew we were facing that guy (Tanner Hall). Everyone in the park knows that he’s one of the best guys because they have a lot of good pitchers, but you have your work cut out for you when facing that guy."
Burke wasn't done there, though.
In his next at-bat, he fought off a tough two-strike pitch and smacked the ball off the center field wall. He would eventually come around to score after the hit, as well.
Overall, he finished 2-for-5 at the plate with two RBI and two runs. After a rough start to his birthday, he turned things around for himself and his team.
“He earned a Dairy Queen birthday cake," said Vitello. "It’s his birthday and I stand by the thing we talked about in Knoxville. The position he’s in to hit kind of dictates the way it’s going to go. You can hit a ball hard and not get a hit out of it and you might foul a pitch off or whatever it might be. If you had a predictor on his at-bats, when he’s in a good position to hit, really good things happen. It’s a tough look for him there. Obviously a difficult pitcher to face but kind of like Cal (Stark), he got determined with two strikes and really got over his legs and it made the difference on that particular pitch.”
Now, Tennessee must prepare for a winner-take-all game three on Monday. The newly turned 20-year-old will hope to recapture the magic of game two as the Vols look to earn a spot in the College World Series.
A win would send Tennessee to Omaha for the first time since 2021 and the second time under Vitello.
A loss would mark the second-straight year the program has fallen a single game short of the event.
Currently, no time has been announced for the final match of the Super Regional.
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