Tennessee cruises past Bellarmine, extends win streak to four games
Tennessee reached arguably its lowest point of the season with a midweek loss to Tennessee Tech last Tuesday.
What a difference a week can make.
Fresh off of a critical series sweep of then-No. 4 Vanderbilt, the Vols extended their win streak to four games with a 19-1 win over Bellarmine at Lindsey Nelson Stadium on Tuesday.
Tennessee (27-14) scored at least a run in seven-straight innings and totaled seven home runs with 12 batters combining for a season-high 19 hits while the bullpen held the Knights (11-30) to three hits, including 6.1 hitless innings.
Right-hander Jacob Bimbi (2-0) earned the win, tossing two strikeouts in 1.2 innings of work.
Catcher Ryan Miller was 2-for-2 at the plate with six RBIs off of two home runs.
Like Tennessee had done against Vanderbilt last weekend, the Vols got their most production with two outs in the bottom of the first. A Jared Dickey walk was followed by a Blake Burke single. Griffin Merritt singled through the right side on the next at-bat to push Dickey across from third and put Tennessee up 1-0 early.
Dylan Dreiling led off the second with a solo homer 434 feet over the wall in right. Maui Ahuna added another run with an RBI double to the wall in right-center to swell the lead to 3-0.
In the third, Dreiling notched his second hit with a hard-hit ball that just missed the center fielder's glove and rolled to the wall, allowing Christian Moore to score and Dreiling to reach third for a triple.
Tennessee posted two more runs in the fourth, starting with a Dickey home run to lead off the frame and followed by Dreiling third RBI with a sac-fly to center, then Christian Scott blew it open with a three-run homer, pushing the Vols' advantage to a commanding 11-0 in the fifth.
Reese Chapman and Miller belted a pair of home runs in the sixth with Miller's good for three runs and a 15-0 lead. Miller added another three-run home run in the seventh.
Tennessee hosts Mississippi State in a three-game series beginning Thursday at 7 p.m. ET on SEC Network.
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