Vols power past Ole Miss in SEC home opener

Tennessee appeared to let out its frustrations on Friday.

Coming off of a series loss in their SEC opener at Alabama last weekend, the No. 8 Vols used a combination of dominant pitching and even more dominant power-hitting to jump on Ole Miss early and open conference play at home with a 15-3 Game 1 victory in seven innings.

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Tennessee combined for five home runs on 13 hits with Christian Moore leaving the yard twice and Kavares Tears, Robin Villeneuve and Dean Curley each accounted for one.

Villeneuve led with four RBIs while Curley and Reese Chapman combined for six.

Tennessee starting right-handed pitcher A.J. Causey (5-0) earned the win, tossing six strikeouts and allowing five hits and three runs in 5.2 innings of work.

TENNESSEE

1. Christian Moore (R) - 2B

2. Blake Burke (L) -1B

3. Billy Amick (R) - 3B

4. Kavares Tears (L) - CF

5. Dylan Dreiling (L) - LF

6. Robin Villeneuve (R) - DH

7. Cannon Peebles (B) - C

8. Reese Chapman (L) - RF

9. Dean Curley (R) - SS

RHP A.J. Causey

OLE MISS

1. Ethan Groff (R) - CF

2. Andrew Fischer (L) - 3B

3. Jackson Ross (R) - 1B

4. Ethan Lege (R) - LF

5. Treyson Hughes (L) - RF

6. Luke Hill (R) - SS

7. Will Furniss (L) - DH

8. Eli Berch (R) - C

9. Brayden Randle (L) - 2B

LHP Gunnar Dennis

After an uneventful first inning, Tears gave Tennessee its first base-runner with a lead-off single in the second and Villenuve reached on another single two at-bats later.

Chapman scored Tears on an RBI single to give the Vols the lead and Curley added to it with a three-run home run to go up 4-0. Moore continued the hit parade in the frame with a solo shot to left-center that stretched the Vols' advantage to 5-0.

Ole Miss got its first hit in the third, but it hardly mattered. Causey got out of the frame, stranding a runner on second and setting up for another offensive onslaught in the bottom half.

Villenuve mashed Tennessee's third home run, this one good for three more runs to up the lead to a commanding 8-0.

Tears reached the run-rule threshold in the fourth, hitting a home run that was good for two runs and a 10-0 lead.

Ole Miss got two back in the fifth off of a Brayden Randle home run. The Rebels added another in the sixth and were in position to do more damage with the bases loaded.

Left-handed reliever Kirby Connell came out of the bullpen and got Tennessee out of the inning, though to hold a 10-3 lead.

The Vols posted another five runs in the sixth, beginning with a Moore homer. Dreiling, Villeneuve and Chapman drove in four more runs on RBIs.

1. Dean Curley three-run home run opens up Tennessee lead

2. Tennessee goes back-to-back with Christian Moore solo homer

3. Robin Villenueve plates three more run with Tennessee's third long-ball

Tennessee will look to claim its first SEC series in Game 2 against Ole Miss on Saturday.

The Vols will start right-handed pitcher Drew Beam (3-1, 3.03 ERA), who took his first loss of the season at Alabama a week ago.

First pitch is slated for 6 p.m. ET on SEC Network+.

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