Join hundreds of other Tennessee fans in our game thread where you can follow along for live play-by-play updates and commentary from Tennessee's SEC opener against South Carolina.
First pitch: 6:30 p.m. ET
Watch: SEC Network+
Listen: Click here
Live Stats: Click here
Starting Lineup
Here’s four quick takeaways from Tennessee’s SEC opening win over South Carolina on Friday night:
Rounding 1st — Chase Burns shines... again
It was only Chase Burns' (W, 4-0) fifth career start, but you wouldn't know he was making his first career SEC start watching his performance. The freshman delivered 6.2 strong innings of work to pick up his fourth win of the season.
Burns only allowed one run and struck out nine. He gave up just two hits and two walks on 92 pitches before handing the ball over to Camden Sewell.
Rounding 2nd — Camden Sewell shuts the door
Sewell did have to help Burns out and slam the door on South Carolina in the seventh. Burns began losing his command in the seventh frame when he gave up a four-pitch walk with one out. He did bounce back with a strikeout for the second out, but then went down 2-0 to the very next pitcher.
Tony Vitello wasted little time going to Sewell out of the bullpen once Burns went down in the count. The move paid off as the senior righty came in and worked back from being down in the count and struck out the Gamecock to get out of the inning.
Sewell came back out for the eighth inning and sat Carolina down 1-2-3. Three of Sewell's four outs on were by way of the strikeout.
Rounding 3rd — The Bomb Squad
Tennessee continues to flash the power in the friendly confines of Lindsey Nelson Stadium. The Vols entered the weekend with an NCAA-leading 46 home runs under their belt. All they did against Carolina was hit four more.
Cortland Lawson hit a two-run homer in the second, Luc Lipcius hit a solo homer in the sixth, Jorel Ortega hit a solo homer in the seventh and Evan Russell emphatically capped the night with a monster three-run home run in the eighth to break the game open.
Headed for Home — Sloppy finish
It was mostly a great night for the Vols, but Tony Vitello won't be happy with how the Vols closed things out in the bottom of the ninth.
After an error allowed a baserunner to start the inning, and a questionable fielding decision in the outfield, South Carolina went on to load the bases and push two runs across.
Kirby Connell was ultimately able to work out of the jam with a ground ball and a strikeout to close out the game.
Key Plays:
B-1st: South Carolina 0, Tennessee 1 (+1)
Tennessee took an early 1-0 lead in the first inning on an RBI single from Drew Gilbert after Jorel Ortega drew a four-pitch walk and Jordan Beck singled up the middle.
B-2nd: South Carolina 0, Tennessee 3 (+2)
After Evan Russell drew a walk, Cortland Lawson smashed a two-run home run to left field to put Tennessee up 3-0.
T-5th: South Carolina 1 (+1), Tennessee 3
Chase Burns gave up a one-out walk in the fifth. After a wild pitch in the dirt allowed the runner to advance to third, South Carolina pushed its first run across on an RBI groundout.
B-6th: South Carolina 1, Tennessee 4 (+1)
Luc Lipcius hit a moonshot over the right field fence for his fourth home run of the season. It put the Vols up 4-1.
B-7th: South Carolina 1, Tennessee 5
Jorel Ortega hit a solo home run to extend Tennessee's lead to 5-1.
B-8th: South Carolina 1, Tennessee 8 (+3)
Evan Russell broke things open in the eighth when he crushed a three-run home run to left field. Luc Lipcius and Blake Burke both walked to put runners on first and second for Russell.
T-9th: South Carolina 3 (+2), Tennessee 8
Things got sloppy in the ninth for the Vols. After an error on Luc Lipcius gave Carolina momentum to start the inning, the Gamecocks went on to load the bases. They scored two runs off of it courtesy of an RBI single and RBI groundout.
Kirby Connell was able to secure the win before things got too hairy, however, as he got a ground ball and a strikeout to end the game.
Final Box Score
This Week's Schedule
Tuesday, March 15
Midweek game – Eastern Kentucky (1) vs. No. 7 Tennessee (7)
Friday, March 18
Game 1 – South Carolina vs. No. 7 Tennessee -- 6:30 p.m. ET
Saturday, March 19
Game 2 – South Carolina vs. No. 7 Tennessee -- 12 p.m. ET
Sunday, March 20
Game 3 – South Carolina vs. No. 7 Tennessee -- 1 p.m. ET
