Tennessee’s baseball team stayed unbeaten on the season picking up five wins on the week. Tennessee dominated its midweek opponents by a score of 27-2. The Vols swept their weekend series against George Washington thanks to another strong weekend from the bullpen.

Let’s take a look back at a 5-0 week and look ahead to the Vols last week before SEC play begins.

1.-Veterans making big impacts- I’ve written a lot this year about the Vols young bats and specifically the sophomore class that’s made a big jump from last season to this year.

But you shouldn’t ignore a trio of Tennessee upperclassmen who are off to a hot start and that continued this weekend.

Luc Lipcius is finally healthy after missing most of the last two seasons to injury. Lipcius is off to a hot start this season hitting .321 with two homers and 12 RBIs. The junior continued his good play at the plate this weekend going 3-for-8 with four walks, a homer and six RBIs.

Zach Daniels has made a huge jump from his first two seasons looking like a much more complete hitter as he’s become a fixture in the Vols’ lineup. This weekend wasn’t Daniels biggest of the year, but he still went 3-for-9 with a walk. Daniels is hitting .368 this season with three home runs and 12 RBIs.

Daniels has solidified himself as an everyday starter and has been a fixture at the two spot in the Vols’ lineup.

Pete Derkay started the season looking buried on the depth chart, but the senior has made the most of his opportunities raking in pinch hit opportunities before earning three starts this weekend.

Derkay took advantage of his opportunities in the DH role going 4-for-9 with three walks and two RBIs, including the go-ahead hit in Saturday’s 7-3 win.

Derkay is now hitting .633 on the season with 11 RBIs in 18 at-bats.

2. -Bullpen dominance continues- For the second straight weekend Tennessee’s bullpen didn’t allow anything.

The group gave up no runs or walks and seven hits in 14 innings of action.

Jackson Leath was absolutely dominant on the mound in relief Sunday posting a scoreless four innings. The junior college transfer allowed only two baserunners while striking out six. Leath’s mid 90s sinker was giving the Colonials all types of problems as he successfully kept it in the zone.

Redmond Walsh and Sean Hunley continued their fantastic starts with another strong weekend. Pitching two innings out of the bullpen and two innings in his Sunday start, Hunley turned in four scoreless innings allowing only two baserunners.

The Mt. Juliet native has yet to give up a run this season while allowing just four hits and two walks in 13 innings.

Redmond Walsh once again looks like one of the SEC’s best bullpen arms and he was strong in long relief Saturday. Walsh pitched the final five innings, shutting down a hot Colonial’s offense allowing only two baserunners while throwing only 47 pitches.

The duo has been truly elite so far this season. The two will certainly come back to earth when the competition improves, but no runs and six hits in 22.1 innings is a pretty dominant start.

3. -Soularie starting to return to form- All SEC outfielder Alerick Soularie had a slow start to his junior campaign. Soularie didn’t get a hit the first weekend and was solid in his second weekend.

This week Soularie started to look like the player he was a year ago hitting two homers and working his batting average up to .243 and his on-base percentage up to .408.

Soularie went 7-for-17 on the week with a RBI in every game and two walks.

Tony Vitello talked about a better, more relaxed approach from Soularie on the week, noting that the Texas native was pressing to open the season.

"Extreme difference in effort,” Vitello said. “His two home runs are probably the two swings he's had the least effort with. Now, we ask our guys to swing with conviction, but with the definition I come up with it has some looseness and freedom of movement, not forcing the issue. He really tried to force the issue coming out of the gate."

Soularie has also been a reliable defender for Tennessee this season playing five positions for the Vols serving as the ultimate utility man.

1. Will injured pitchers see action before SEC play?

Vitello hasn’t provided any clear timetable on the return of the Vols’ injured pitchers but with just two weeks before the start of SEC play, time is running out for them to return before the start of SEC play.

Vitello said on Tuesday that Will Heflin had thrown a bullpen session and that he was pleased with how the redshirt-senior looked.

Heflin, who tore his ACL in the fall, seems to be more ahead in his progression than Crochet (arm soreness) and Sewell (back). Vitello said both Crochet and Sewell played toss this week but provided no more timetable on their return.

One would think Tennessee would want Crochet and Sewell to both see some action before the start of SEC play. Whether that’s either of them getting a start, Sewell coming in out of the bullpen or either just throwing a bullpen session in game, one would think we could see their debuts this week.

Both of them could also wait and throw an inning against ETSU in the Vols’ midweek before South Carolina.

Maybe neither of them sees action until SEC play begins, but I’d expect Heflin to definitely see action soon.

The South Carolina series is a critical one for Tennessee as the Vols, on paper, look better than the Gamecocks so far. On the road, it will be a difficult series for Tennessee and a very important one to avoid a poor start to SEC play with Vanderbilt coming to Knoxville the following weekend.

The Vols need all three of those guys, most importantly Crochet, to pitch well that opening weekend. Getting them some in game action before then would seemingly go a long way in knocking off the rust.

2. Is Chase Wallace secure in his Saturday spot?

For the second straight week, Wallace didn’t have his best stuff on Saturday. The junior went only four innings giving up three runs, two earned and four hits while surrendering three walks.

Wallace did a good job of piecing things together and getting out of some jams but for the second straight week he wasn’t on top of his game.

Vitello noted that Wallace didn’t have the same presence he’d had since the start of fall ball. If there’s anything Vitello and Anderson won’t tolerate much of is pitchers not pounding the zone. Wallace has struggled to consistently find the strike zone the past two starts.

Vitello noted that the roles in the pitching staff are still very unsettled and with Crochet and Sewell set to return soon Wallace spot seems a little shaky.

Chad Dallas continues to pitch strong for Tennessee and will be tough to remove from a weekend starter spot when Crochet returns. Hunley would be a tough guy to remove from the bullpen with how consistent he’s been there.

Leath has been shaky in his two starts this season while posting 8.2 innings out of the bullpen giving up no earned runs and only four hits while striking out 14. Leath could certainly get more comfortable starting as the season goes on, but the early season trend seems worth mentioning.

For now, I think Wallace spot as a weekend starter is secure, but a few more shaky starts and Tennessee could look to make a change. They certainly have the depth to make one.

Vols stay unbeaten

Tennessee will stay home at Lindsey Nelson Stadium this week where they will play four more home games.

The Vols will take on a struggling, 3-9, Longwood team Tuesday as they look to stay perfect in the midweek. Tennessee has outscored midweek opponents 35-4 so far this season as the Vols have shown depth in their lineup and pitching staff.

Tennessee will then see a struggling Wright State team for a weekend series. Wright State is off to a 2-8 start going 0-7 against power five opponents.

A week after getting swept at home by UCF, Auburn outscored the Raiders 33-8.

Tennessee has shown consistency so far this season and against two weaker opponents I’d expect the Vols to take care of business and stay unbeaten.