Tennessee's Offense Gets Hot as Vols Beat Georgia 9-2 to Win Series and Share of SEC Title

KNOXVILLE, Tenn.– Top-ranked )D1) Tennessee Baseball (45-6, 22-4 SEC) went toe-to-toe with the Georgia Bulldogs (32-18, 13-13 SEC) in Lindsey Nelson Stadium on Friday for game two of the Vols' final regular-season home series. 

Tennessee won game one 5-2 on Thursday and achieved the series win on Friday with a 9-2 win. With the win, the Vols have clinched a share of the regular season SEC title. Tennessee has a chance to win the conference outright if Vanderbilt holds on to beat Arkansas in Fayetteville. A live feed of the Commodores-Razorbacks series opener can be found here. Whether Tennessee wins the conference outright or not, the Vols have a piece of the regular season title for the first time since the 1995 season.

In Tennessee's series-winning victory over the Bulldogs, Evan Russell left the yard twice, Camden Sewell put together another solid outing in relief of starter Blade Tidwell, and Jorel Ortega recorded three RBIs. Camden Sewell (5-1) was the winning pitcher, while Georgia starter Jonathan Cannon (9-2) was the losing pitcher. 

A recap of Tennessee's 45th win of the season is below. 

Georgia Takes Early Lead

Tennessee trailed Georgia for the first time in the series in the top of the first, when the Bulldogs' two-hole hitter–Cole Tate–hit one off the batter's eye for a one-out solo homer. 

Tidwell then allowed a single and surrendered a two-out walk, struggling early. However, the sophomore was able to strand the pair of runners at first and second with a strikeout on a full count. 

In the bottom of the frame, Luc Lipcius worked a one-out walk to become the first Tennessee baserunner of the night. Jordan Beck then struck out looking to give Tennessee two outs, much to Vols' head coach Tony Vitello's anger as strike three was well outside the strike zone. Drew Gilbert cracked a hard-hit two-out single to right to give Tennessee runners on first and second for Trey Lipscomb, but the senior third baseman grounded right to UGA starting pitcher Jonathan Cannon to strand the pair of runners and end the inning. 

Tidwell Works Out of a Jam in the Third

Tidwell retired the side around a two-out walk in the second, and the Vols didn't get anything going in the top of the frame. 

In the top of the third, Tidwell struggled again. Georgia's Cole and Connor Tate each laid down singles to begin the frame, and the Bulldogs put runners on the corners with one out. 

But Tidwell worked out of the jam, forcing a flyout and a pop-up to end the inning and strand the runners. Tidwell's ability to work out of the jam was key for Tennessee to keep the deficit at one run, as the Big Orange bats struggled to get going against Cannon. 

Jorel Ortega Scores First Tennessee Run, Evan Russell Gives Vols the Lead

The Vols' bats finally came alive in the bottom of the fourth inning. Drew Gilbert kicked off the inning with a leadoff single for his second hit of the evening. Gilbert was out at second the next at-bat as Lipscomb reached on a fielder's choice.  

Lipscomb didn't stay at first long. Jorel Ortega faced a 1-2 count and roped an RBI double down the left field line to score Lipscomb from first to tie the game. 

And just like Lipscomb, Ortega didn't stay put for long. 

Evan Russell caught one clean off of Cannon, obliterating a 3-1 pitch over the left field porches for a two-run blast to give Tennessee a 3-1 lead Russell continued his efficient series with the home run, as the senior was 2-4 on night one against the Bulldogs. Russell's homer also marked only the fifth home run Georgia's Cannon has given up all year. 

Sewell Struggles in Fifth, Walks in a Run

Tennessee gave the ball to senior right-handed pitcher Camden Sewell in the top of the fifth after Tidwell had amassed 80 pitches in only four innings. 

Sewell has been excellent as of late in day two relief appearances, but the senior had a forgettable outing on Friday. Sewell gave up a one-out single to Connor Tate before allowing back-to-back two-out singles to load the bases for the Bulldogs. Georgia DH Corey Collins then approached the plate, where he was walked by Sewell to score a run. 

Will Mabrey had been warming up in the pen in the fifth, but Vitello chose to keep Sewell on the mound to face UGA shortstop Josh McAllister. And Sewell prevented any extra damage, forcing a flyout to strand the bases loaded. 

The Bulldogs had cut Tennessee's lead to one run, but it didn't take the Vols long to get the run back. 

Vols Return the Favor 

Tennessee quickly got the run back in the bottom of the fifth with a leadoff homer from Luc Lipcius to right center. Lipcius's 11th home run of the season was a towering shot to give the Vols a 5-2 lead, and the bomb marks the sixth homer Cannon has given up all season. 

And the Vols' success at the plate wasn't done in the fifth. Drew Gilbert worked a one-out walk before Trey Lipscomb singled to put runners on first and second with one out for Jorel Ortega. 

Ortega then delivered his second RBI of the game, this time a single to center field to score Gilbert. After Ortega's RBI single, Georgia head coach Scott Stricklin decided to pull Cannon in favor of freshman righty Chandler Marsh. In a high-leverage situation, 

Marsh's first batter faced was Blake Burke, who took advantage of Georgia's RF Chaney Rogers playing far back, dropping a single into shallow right to load the bases with still the lone out. 

Evan Russell struck out for the second time of the night before Cortland Lawson worked a bases-loaded walk to score Tennessee's sixth run of the game, giving the Vols back-to-back three-run innings. 

Seth Stephenson couldn't get going during his at-bat, missing an opportunity to extend the lead by striking out to strand the bases loaded. 

Vols Add a Couple More Runs in the Sixth, One in the Seventh

Camden Sewell stayed on the mound in the sixth and had much more command, retiring the Bulldogs in order with a trio of groundouts. 

Tennessee's offense continued to excel in the bottom of the sixth, as Jorel Ortega smacked his third RBI of the game with a single to right field to score Lipcius from second. Ortega's single also moved Jordan Beck to third, who later scored on a wild pitch from Marsh. 

Sewell made it back-to-back 1-2-3 innings in the seventh as he sat the heart of the Bulldogs' lineup down in order, and Evan Russell emerged yet again after the stretch. 

The super-senior faced off against new Georgia reliever Will Pearson and drilled his second long ball of the game into the left field porches for a leadoff solo homer to give the Vols a seven-run lead. Russell's homer not only marked the second of the game for the Lexington, Tennessee native, it marked his 12th of the season and 37th of his career, putting him one bomb away from tying VFL Todd Helton for the program record of 38 career home runs.

Drew Gilbert Shows Off Elite Defense in the Eighth

Mark McLaughlin took over the mound in the eighth, retiring the Bulldogs in order. 

But he had some help from Drew Gilbert, as the junior made a leap at the warning track in center field to catch a deep fly ball from Josh McAllister. The inning marked the third consecutive 1-2-3 inning for Tennessee's defense as a whole, and the Vols carried their seven-run lead into the bottom of the eighth. 

Tennessee couldn't get going in the bottom of the frame, as Georgia freshman reliever Coleman Willis did well against the heart of the Vols' lineup. 

Kirby Closes Things Out

Tennessee junior RHP Kirby Connell came on to pitch for the Vols in the ninth, retiring the Bulldogs in order to give UT the series win and a share of the regular-season SEC title.

Up Next

The Vols will look to achieve their ninth sweep of the season when they face off against the Bulldogs on Sunday. First pitch is set for 1 p.m. ET in Lindsey Nelson Stadium. The Vols’ starting pitcher is yet to be announced. 

Stat Corner

-Georgia's starting pitcher Jonathan Cannon–a top-tier MLB prospect–gave up a career-high 10 hits and tied a career-high by giving up six runs to the Vols

-Cole Tate was 3-3 in the first game and was 2-2 to start on Friday. Camden Sewell was the first Tennessee pitcher to retire Tate all series, as he struck out the senior Bulldog third baseman in the top of the fifth inning. 

-Lipcius has 12 home runs on the season. Evan Russell has 11. Five Vols have 11 or more home runs this season. 

-Ortega's pair of RBIs bring his season total to 36, which is 34 RBIs behind Lipscomb. Just a stat to show how dominant Lipscomb has been.

-Evan Russell is one home run away from tying VFL Todd Helton's program record of 38 Tennessee career home runs. 

-Evan's multi-home run game marks his third of the season, sixth of his career. 

-On back-to-back nights, a Vol has hit multiple home runs.

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