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 midweek affair with Eastern Kentucky ahead of conference play beginning this weekend.
First pitch: 6:30 p.m. ET
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Starting Lineup
Four Takeaways
Here’s four quick takeaways from Tennessee’s midweek win over Eastern Kentucky on Tuesday:
Rounding 1st — Trey Lipscomb leads the way
Tennessee third baseman Trey Lipscomb set the tone. The junior hit a two-run home run in the first inning and then hit a grand slam in the second inning to give the Vols an early 6-0 lead in which they never looked back from.
The homers were Lipscomb's seventh and eighth of the season, respectively. Lipscomb is now tied with LSU's Jacob Berry for most home runs in the SEC.
Rounding 2nd — Christian Moore continues to flex
Vols freshman infielder Christian Moore continues to impress and flex the power. Moore hit his sixth homer of the season in the fourth inning in just his 25th at-bat of the season.
Moore finished 2-for-4 on the evening and is now hitting .423 on the season after making his seventh start.
Rounding 3rd — Another strong outing for Sechrist
Zander Sechrist (W, 2-0) started the Vols' midweek game for the fourth consecutive week and turned in another terrific outing. He allowed just one run in five innings of work and only gave up one hit, which didn't come until there were two outs left in the fourth. Sechrist tied a career-high with seven strikeouts to pick up the win.
On the season, Sechrist is now 2-0 with a 1.62 ERA in four starts. The sophomore lefty has now recorded 24 strikeouts in 16.2 innings.
Headed for Home — Time for SEC play
Tennessee (16-1) now turns its attention to conference play. The Vols welcome South Carolina (10-6) to Knoxville this weekend for a three-game series.
Game one on Friday night is scheduled for 6 p.m. ET, while Saturday's contest is set to begin at noon. The series finale on Sunday will begin at 1 p.m.
Key Plays:
T-1st: Eastern Kentucky 0, Tennessee 0
Sophomore lefty Zander Sechrist made his fourth career start on Tuesday and in the first inning, gave up a one-out walk. Sechrist then recorded a strikeout and a pop out to shortstop to end the inning.
B-1st: Eastern Kentucky 0, Tennessee 2 (+2)
Jordan Beck hit a two-run single to set up a two-run Trey Lipscomb home run to give the Vols an early lead. The homer was Lipscomb's seventh of the season.
Tennessee went on to load the bases with two outs courtesy of a Luc Lipcius walk, a Christian Moore single and an Evan Russell walk, but Cortland Lawson struck out to strand the runners and keep it a two-run game.
T-2nd: Eastern Kentucky 0, Tennessee 2
Sechrist gave up a two-out walk for the second consecutive inning, but also stranded the runner on first for the second straight frame courtesy of a fly ball to right field and a strikeout.
B-2nd: Eastern Kentucky 0, Tennessee 6 (+4)
Trey Lipscomb hit a grand slam in the second inning to give Tennessee a 6-0 lead. It was Lipscomb's second home run of the game and his eighth of the season to tie LSU's Jacob Berry for most in the SEC.
Jared Dickey walked, Jorel Ortega singled and Jordan Beck was hit by a pitch to load the bases for Lipscomb.
T-4th: Eastern Kentucky 1 (+1), Tennessee 6
Eastern Kentucky third baseman Connor Davis broke up Zander Sechrist's no-hitter with two outs in the fourth. His opposite field solo home run also put the Colonels on the board.
B-4th: Eastern Kentucky 1, Tennessee 7 (+1)
After the Colonels got a run back in the top half of the inning, Vols freshman Christian Moore got it back in the bottom half a long solo home run to left field. It was Moore's sixth homer of the season in just his 25th at-bat.
Final Box Score
Post Game Interviews
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
