GAINESVILLE — Here’s four quick takeaways from Tennessee’s 3-0 win on Saturday night in Gainesville to clinch a series win over Florida:
Rounding 1st — Tidwell is dominant
Blade Tidwell (W, 1-0) made his first conference start of the season against the Gators and guided the Vols to a win to clinch the series.
Tidwell was on a pitch count as he continues to build back up from shoulder soreness that cost him the first month and a half the season. Still, on 72 pitches, he didn’t allow a run over 4.2 innings of work as he picked up his first win of the year.
The sophomore right-hander didn’t allow a walk, only gave up two hits and struck out five. Tidwell started in place of Chase Dollander who was hit by a line drive last Saturday against Alabama.
Rounding 2nd — Sewell closes it out
Camden Sewell relieved Tidwell in the fifth with two outs and proceeded to pitch 4.1 scoreless innings and earn his first save of the season. Sewell didn’t allow a hit and walked just one Gator batter. He struck out three, striking out the side in the bottom of the ninth to finish off the game.
Rounding 3rd — Lipcius and Gilbert go deep
Tennessee only managed six hits on the evening. Two of them proved to be the difference in the game though.
Luc Lipcius hit a solo home run in the top of the fifth to score the first run of the game. Lipcius’ 10th home run gave Tennessee a 1-0 lead.
An inning later, Drew Gilbert crushed a two-run homer into the Florida bullpen following a Jordan Beck single. Gilbert’s fourth homer of the season gave the Vols a 3-0 lead. It travelled 4-18 feet and was 106 mph off of the bat.
Headed for Home — No Vitello, no problem
Saturday’s game was the last of Tony Vitello’s four-game suspension. Vitello will return to the dugout on Sunday afternoon for the series finale when the Vols look to sweep the Gators.
Tennessee didn’t lose a game in Vitello’s absence. The Vols went 3-0 in three conference games without Vitello to improve to 16-1 in conference play. They join the 1951 Tennessee baseball team as the only SEC baseball teams to ever start league play 16-1.
The series finale on Sunday is set to begin at 12 p.m. ET. Freshman RHP Drew Beam is expected to start for the Vols.
GAINESVILLE — Join hundreds of other Tennessee fans in our game thread where you can follow along for live play-by-play updates and commentary as No. 1 Tennessee (35-3, 15-1 SEC) takes on Florida (23-15, 6-10 SEC) in game two of this weekend's three-game series..
After winning game one 8-2 on Friday night behind a seven-run second inning, the Vols are looking to win the series.
First pitch: 6:30 p.m. ET
Watch: SEC Network+
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Starting Lineup
Key Plays
Florida's starting pitcher: Sophomore RHP Brandon Sproat (4-3, 4.91 ERA) starts on the bump for the Gators. Making his 10th start and 11th appearance. 48 H, 24 ER, 18 BB, 45 K, .279 opponent batting average in 44.0 innings.
Tennessee's starting pitcher: RHP Blade Tidwell (0-0, 2.70 ERA) starts for the Vols on the bump. Making his third start/sixth appearance. 7 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 15 K, .250 opponent batting average in 6.2 innings.
T-1st: Tennessee 0, Florida 0
Jared Dickey reached on an error to lead off the game, but Jorel Ortega grounded into a double play to wipe it out.
T-2nd: Tennessee 0, Florida 0
Trey Lipscomb tallied Tennessee's first hit of the game, a double with one out in the second. After Luc Lipcius walked to put runners on first and second, Evan Russell grounded out to advance the runners. Kyle Booker couldn't pay it off though, grounding out to short to end the inning.
B-4th: Tennessee 0, Florida 0
Florida's first two hits of the game off of Blade Tidwell came with two outs in the fourth when Sterlin Thompson and Wyatt Langford hit back-to-back singles. Tidwell then struck out Gator catcher BT Riopelle to end the inning.
T-5th: Tennessee 1 (+1), Florida 0
Luc Lipcius hit a solo home run to lead off the fifth inning and put the Vols on the board. Lipcius' 11th home run of the season gave the Vols a 1-0 lead.
Cortland Lawson hit a two-out double later in the inning. Seth Stephenson then struck out to end the inning.
B-5th: Tennessee 1, Florida 0
Blade Tidwell allowed a one-out walk in the fifth, and after he got a line drive to center for the second out, was replaced by Camden Sewell.
Sewell inherited a runner on second and two outs before getting a fly ball to center to end the inning and strand the runner.
T-6th: Tennessee 3 (+2), Florida 0
After Jordan Beck singled with one out, Drew Gilbert crushed a two-run home run into the Florida bullpen to extend Tennessee's lead to 3-0.
B-6th: Tennessee 3, Florida 0
Camden Sewell plunked Colby Halter to lead off the sixth, but then immediately picked him off at first. Sewell then gave up a one-out walk before getting a line drive to left for the second out and a ground ball to short for the final out.
T-7th: Tennessee 3, Florida 0
Evan Russell walked to lead off the inning. Christian Moore eventually walked in the inning as well to put two two runners on with two outs for Jorel Ortega, who grounded out to end the inning.
Final Box Score
Postgame Media
Where Tennessee is ranked this week:
Perfect Game: No. 1 (-)
Collegiate Baseball: No. 1 (-)
NCBWA: No. 1 (-)
USA Today Coaches Poll: No. 1 (-)
D1Baseball: No. 1 (-)
Baseball America: No. 1 (-)
This Week's Schedule
Tuesday, April 19
Midweek Game – Bellarmine (3) vs. No. 1 Tennessee (9)
Friday, April 22
Game 1 – No. 1 Tennessee (8) @ Florida (2)
Saturday, April 23
Game 2 – No. 1 Tennessee (3) @ Florida (0)
Sunday, April 24
Game 3 – No. 1 Tennessee @ Florida -- 1 p.m. ET
