KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – No. 24 Tennessee wrapped up its regular season home slate in style with an 11-1 run-rule victory over Belmont on Tuesday evening at Lindsey Nelson Stadium.
For the third time in their last 14 games, the Volunteers (35-18) blasted six home runs as six different players went deep for the Orange and White in the win.
With those six homers, UT eclipsed the 100-homer mark for the fifth straight season, becoming the first SEC team to ever accomplish that feat.
Levi Clark got the long ball party started with a mammoth two-run blast off the light pole in left-center field in the second inning to put the Vols ahead 2-0. The Vols added three more runs to their total with three solo shots in the bottom of the fifth, starting with back-to-back blasts from Jay Abernathy and Garrett Wright before Henry Ford launched 1-1 pitch over the porches for his team-leading 16th four-bagger of the year.
Trent Grindlinger started Tennessee’s six-run eighth inning with a solo home run of his own before Hunter High put the finishing touches on the game with his first homer of the season, a two-run shot the opposite way to bring the run-rule into effect.
Sophomore right-hander Nic Abraham was stellar on the mound for the Big Orange in his third midweek start of the year. The California native tossed a career-high 5.2 innings against the Bruins (19-33), allowing just one run on four hits while striking out four batters and not issuing any walks to earn the win and improve to 2-0 on the year.
Will Haas, Brady Frederick and Chandler Day combined for 2.1 innings of scoreless relief to finish the game.
With Tuesday’s win, UT also finished the season with a perfect 14-0 record in midweek games, marking the first time it has done that this century. The Vols outscored their 14 midweek opponents 152-33 for the year.
UP NEXT: Tennessee closes out the regular season with a trip to Oklahoma to take on the 20th-ranked Sooners. The series will begin on Thursday night at 7:30 p.m. ET and all three games will be played at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark in Oklahoma City, which is home to the Los Angeles Dodgers Triple-A affiliate Oklahoma City Comets.
