The wins are piling up for Tennessee baseball.
The Vols' swept Missouri in their most recent triumph over the weekend, claiming their sixth-straight SEC series and making up more ground in the division standings as the last month of the regular season approaches.
TALK ABOUT IT IN THE ROCKY TOP FORUM
As far as the national rankings go, Tennessee (37-7, 15-6 SEC) remained at No. 3 in the latest D1Baseball Top 25 on Monday and were one of nine league teams featured in the rankings this week.
Texas A&M maintained its No.1 billing while Arkansas stayed at No. 2 and Kentucky dropped four spots to No. 8. South Carolina jumped to No. 14. Mississippi State moved from unranked to No. 16.
Vanderbilt fell to No. 17 and Georgia was up one spot to No. 19. Alabama rounded out the conference at No. 23.
Tennessee leaned on defense in sweep of Missouri
Tennessee was explosive at the plate in Game 1 against Missouri last Thursday.
The Vols mashed six home runs, including multiple three-run shots from Cal Stark and Billy Amick to take the series lead behind a convincing 10-1 win at Lindsey Nelson Stadium.
Over the next two games, Tennessee needed to win the old-fashioned way, leaning on its defense to claim two one-run victories and pull off the series sweep.
It started on Friday, with the Vols scoring runs on a wild pitch, ground out and Hunter Ensley RBI double to take a 3-0 lead, but right-handed pitcher Drew Beam was the headliner.
Beam totaled eight strikeouts and pitched more than six scorless innings before being pulled in the seventh after a two-run Missouri home run, but relievers Kirby Connell and Aaron Combs closed it out in the final two frames.
Game 3 on Sunday was much of the same for Tennessee. The Vols took a 3-1 lead in the bottom first and then didn't score again, holding off the Tigers late.
Though it was an uncharacteristic two game-stretch for Tennessee, it did prove that it could win games on defense when the hitting isn't there.
Vols host Lipscomb, face back-to-back SEC road series
Tennessee will conclude a five-game homestand this week against Lipscomb.
The Vols, who have won 15-straight midweek games dating back to last season, host the Bison (15-27) on Tuesday at 6 p.m. ET on SEC Network+.
Tennessee enters a critical stretch this weekend, starting with a road tilt at 2023 College World Series finalist Florida (22-21, 9-12) before going to Nashville to face Vanderbilt (31-13, 11-10) next week.
The Vols are currently one game behind Kentucky (33-9, 16-5) in the SEC Eastern Division and winning the next two series could not only put Tennessee in front, it could go along way in its conference title and postseason seeding goals.
Tennessee and Florida will begin a three-game series on Thursday (7 p.m., ESPN2) at Condron Family Ballpark in Gainesville.
–––––
– 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, @CalebSisk_.
–––––
