Nearly two months had passed since Dean Curley hit a home run before he walked up to the plate in Tennessee's Knoxville Regional game against Indiana Saturday.

On the fourth pitch he faced, the Vols' shortstop made contact, sending the ball towards left field where it cleared the wall for Curley's first homer since April 7 and opened the way for a prolific hitting performance from the rest of the Tennessee lineup in a 12-6 rout of the Hoosiers that lasted more than four hours at Lindsey Nelson Stadium.

TALK ABOUT IT IN THE ROCKY TOP FORUM

The No. 1 Vols' (52-11) totaled four home runs with Christian Moore, Billy Amick and Cal Stark each going long after Curley's go-ahead shot early.

Those hits were enough to keep Indiana (33-25-1) out of reach despite the Hoosiers putting up 10 hits.

On the mound, Drew Beam allowed four runs on four hits and struck out five in 3.2 innings of work.

Andrew Behnke went a career-long 3.1 innings in relief of Beam, giving up just four hits and no runs while striking out three to earn his third win of the season.

Tennessee

1. Christian Moore (R) - 2B

2. Blake Burke (L) - 1B

3. Billy Amick (R) - 3B

4. Dylan Dreiling (L) - LF

5. Hunter Ensley (R) - CF

6. Kavares Tears (L) - RF

7. Dean Curley (R) - SS

8. Reese Chapman (L) - DH

9. Cal Stark (R) - C

RHP Drew Beam

Indiana

1. Devin Taylor (L) - LF

2. Josh Pyne (R) - 3B

3. Nick Mitchell (L) - RF

4. Brock Tibbitts (R) - 1B

5. Tyler Cerny (R) - SS

6. Carter Mathison (L) - DH

7. Jasen Oliver (B) - 2B

8. Jake Stadler (L) - C

9. Morgan Colopy (R) - CF

RHP Connor Foley

It kept getting worse for Connor Foley.

After a strong start in the first inning, the Indiana starting pitcher unraveled in the second, starting with a 2-2 pitch to Dean Curley that ended up in the porches in left field to give Tennessee a 2-0 lead.

Two at-bats later, Christian Moore homered to stretch the Vols' advantage to 4-0 before Foley was able to get out of it. By then, it hardly mattered.

Indiana struggled to answer against Drew Beam and Tennessee only continued its success at the plate in the third, loading the bases before Moore drew a walk to score Kavares Tears and put Tennessee ahead 5-0 before the Hoosiers went to the bullpen.

A pitching change didn't change much. With the bases still loaded, Billy Amick mashed his third home run in as many games that opened up a commanding 9-0 lead for the Vols.

Indiana got its first hit off Beam in the bottom third and Devin Taylor paid off two runners with a home run to trim its deficit to 9-3 in the frame.

What momentum the Hoosiers may have found in the third, Cal Stark snatched it back with a one out solo home run to swell the Vols' lead to 10-3.

Carter Mathison doubled to center to put another run up for Indiana in the fourth and a walk loaded the bases with two outs, but reliever Andrew Behnke got out of the jam without any further damage.

Tears widened the gap in the fifth, singled into left to follow up a Dylan Dreiling walk and Hunter Ensley double and a fielding error allowed him to reach second and score two more runs to lead 12-4.

Indiana scored two more runs in the eighth, but Tennessee's early power hitting proved too much to overcome and the Vols' bullpen effort was enough to hold the Hoosiers off down the stretch.

1. Dean Curley gives Tennessee the lead with two-run home run in the second inning.

2. Christian Moore homers in the second to add to the Vols' lead.

3. Billy Amick hits a grand slam to open up a 9-0 Tennessee lead in the third.

Tennessee is one win away from clinching another super regional berth.

Southern Miss, which beat Northern Kentucky, 6-0 in an elimination game earlier Saturday, will face Indiana in Game 5 of the Knoxville Regional at Noon on Sunday.

The Vols will play the winner of that game in Game 6 at 6 p.m.

A win would send Tennessee to the super regionals while a loss would force a regional-deciding Game 7 on Monday.

–––––

– TALK ABOUT IT IN THE ROCKY TOP FORUM.

– ENJOY VOLREPORT WITH A PREMIUM SUBSCRIPTION.

– SUBSCRIBE TO THE VOLREPORT YOUTUBE CHANNEL.

– FOLLOW VOLREPORT ON TWITTER: @TennesseeRivals, @ByNoahTaylor, @RyanTSylvia, @Dale_Dowden, @ShayneP_Media.

–––––