Tennessee baseball's Blake Burke named SEC Tournament MVP

HOOVER, Ala. — The SEC Tournament wrapped up on Sunday with Tennessee claiming its second tournament title in three years.

The 1-seed Vols, who opened the tournament with a loss to 8-seed Vanderbilt on Wednesday, fought their way through the losers bracket, winning three-straight games to set up a bout with 11-seed LSU in the championship final.

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Tennessee won, 4-1 at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium behind a three-run go-ahead home run from Billy Amick in the third inning, strong pitching from reliever Dylan Loy and a stellar back-pick from Cal Stark to get the Vols out of a bases-load jam in the seventh.

The performances over four games in as many days earned Tennessee first baseman Blake Burke the tournament's Most Valuable Player while he and outfielder Kavares Tears landed on the all-tournament team.

Burke was key in keeping the Vols' tournament run alive. Tied with 5-seed Mississippi State in an elimination game on Thursday, Burke's leadoff home run in the eighth inning was the difference in a 6-5 victory that sent Tennessee to the semifinals.

Burke had a hand in a defining play in the championship game, too, being on the receiving end of a Cal Stark back-pick to get the Vols out of a bases-loaded jam in the seventh.

He went a combined 6-of-16 at the plate with nine hits, a double and a home run.

Burke is the seventh Tennessee player to win MVP and the first since Drew Gilbert in 2022.

Tears, who was named to the All-SEC Second Team following the regular season, had a strong tournament in right field, making a number of diving catches to keep hits off of the board.

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