NASHVILLE — Join hundreds of other Tennessee fans in our game thread where you can follow along for live play-by-play updates and commentary as the top-ranked Vols take on No. 9 Vanderbilt in the series opener.
First pitch: 7 p.m. ET
Watch: ESPN2
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Live Stats: Click here
Here’s four quick takeaways from Tennessee’s series-opening win over No. 9 Vanderbilt on Friday night:
Rounding 1st — Home run that wasn’t
Jordan Beck hit a solo home run in the top of the first inning — until he didn’t.
Beck was ruled out due to a bat that was deemed illegal. Vanderbilt catcher Dominic Keegan immediately picked up Beck’s bat and handed it to the umpire for inspection.
According to the SEC, “there was a sticker on the bat in question, but it was not an appropriate sticker on the bat. It was a sticker from a midweek game. Therefor the bat was deemed legal.”
"It has been part of what has been going around during the course of the week in terms of the SEC and us talking about it,” Vandy head coach Tim Corbin said in an interview during the game. “It has been out there. It just made sense to do that.”
Tony Vitello said the sticker fell off during batting practice.
Rounding 2nd — Chase Burns yet again
Chase Burns improved to 6-0 on the night behind 5.1 innings of work. Burns allowed two runs on five hits, while allowing just one walk. He struck out seven on on 88 pitches, 58 of which were strikes.
Rounding 3rd — Bullpen steps up
The bullpen came in and finished it off for Burns. Will Mabrey, Kirby Connell and Camden Sewell combined to finish the final 3.2 innings of the game. They didn’t allow a run or a walk, and gave up just one hit. The trio struck out four.
Headed for Home — Lights were too bright
Vanderbilt ran into issues because of the lights in the top of the fifth inning. The Commodores installed new LED lights in time for this weekend’s series and they lost two balls in the new lights as a result.
Vanderbilt left fielder Javier Vaz lost track of the ball on a routine fly ball that allowed Jordan Beck to drive in two runs on a double. Right fielder Spencer Jones then lost a routine fly ball in the lights that resulted in an RBI triple for Trey Lipscomb.
The misfortunes led to four runs in the fifth for the Vols. It proved to be the difference.
Key Plays
T-1st: Tennessee 0, Vanderbilt 0
Jordan Beck hit a solo home run with two outs. Well, at least we thought.
Vanderbilt skipper Tim Corbin asked the umpires to check the bat of Beck following the home and upon review, Beck was called out. It's unclear as to exactly why Beck's bat was ruled illegal at this time.
B-1st: Tennessee 0, Vanderbilt 0
Chase Burns began his outing with back-to-back strikeouts before Vanderbilt right fielder Spencer Jones hit a two-out double into the right-center gap. Burns then got a ground ball to shortstop to end the inning and strand Jones on second.
T-2nd: Tennessee 2 (+2), Vanderbilt 0
After Trey Lipscomb was hit by a pitch, Vols first baseman Luc Lipcius hit a two-run homer to right field to give the Vols an early 2-0 lead.
The bat was in fact legal this time around.
B-2nd: Tennessee 2, Vanderbilt 0
Chase Burns gave up a two-out double to Javier Vaz for the second straight inning. Burns then struck out Tate Kolwyck to end the inning and strand Vaz on second.
T-3rd: Tennessee 2, Vanderbilt 0
Jordan Beck walked with two outs, but Drew Gilbert stuck out to end the inning.
B-3rd: Tennessee 2, Vanderbilt 1 (+1)
Vandy got on the board in the third when centerfielder Enrique Bradfield Jr. singled with one out, stole second, stole third and scored on an RBI groundout to second off the bat of third baseman Davis Diaz.
It cut the Tennessee lead to 2-1.
T-4th: Tennessee 2, Vanderbilt 1
Evan Russell walked with one out, but Luc Lipcius and Jorel Ortega then struck out back-to-back to strand Russell and end the inning.
T-5th: Tennessee 6 (+4), Vanderbilt 1
The Vols tacked on four runs in the fifth when Vandy lost two balls in the lights.
After Christian Moore singled with one out, Seth Stephenson hit a ball to left the Vandy left fielder Javier Vaz lost in the lights. It allowed Moore to advance to third while Stephenson ended up on second. Jordan Beck then hit a two-run double to right-center to extend the Tennessee lead to 4-1.
Then, with two outs, Trey Lipscomb hit a routine fly ball to right that Vandy right fielder Spencer Jones also lost in the lights. It allowed Beck to score and Lipscomb to reach third on a triple. Lipscomb then scored to make it 6-1 on a wild pitch.
T-6th: Tennessee 6, Vanderbilt 2 (+1)
Vanderbilt added a run on an RBI groundout to second after Javier Vaz walked to lead off the inning, stole second and moved to third on a ground ball.
With a runner on second and two outs, Burns got a ground ball to get out of the inning and strand the runner.
Final Box Score
Postgame Media
Where Tennessee is ranked this week:
Perfect Game: No. 1 (+4)
Collegiate Baseball: No. 1 (+1)
NCBWA: No. 1 (+3)
USA Today Coaches Poll: No. 1 (+4)
D1Baseball: No. 1 (+4)
Baseball America: No. 1 (+6)
This Week's Schedule
Wednesday, March 30
Midweek game – Western Carolina (1) vs. No. 1 Tennessee (11)
Friday, April 1
Game 1 – No. 1 Tennessee (6) vs. No. 9 Vanderbilt (2)
Saturday, April 2
Game 2 – No. 1 Tennessee vs. No. 9 Vanderbilt -- 8 p.m. ET
Sunday, April 3
Game 3 – No. 1 Tennessee vs. No. 9 Vanderbilt -- 2 p.m. ET
