Vols Extend NCAA Home Run Lead, Down Bellarmine 11-5 in Midweek Contest

KNOXVILLE, Tenn.– No. 1 Tennessee baseball (D1Baseball.com) faced off against the Bellarmine Knights for their midweek contest on Tuesday in Lindsey Nelson Stadium. Tennessee won 11-5 over the Knights, their second midweek win over Bellarmine this year and their 12th midweek win of the season.

With the win, the BaseVols improve to 43-6 (20-4 SEC) on the season heading into their weekend series against Georgia.

Junior LHP Kirby Connell (2-0, 1.37 ERA) was the winning pitcher for Tennessee, as he dealt 1.1 scoreless innings, giving up only one hit and retiring three of four batters faced. Bellarmine's starting RHP Devin Ecklar (1-5, 9.55 ERA) was the losing pitcher.

Three Vols left the yard on Tuesday, including star junior outfielder Drew Gilbert who delivered his fifth homer of the season. Blake Burke also homered, as the freshman has now recorded homers in three of his past five. Tennessee's three bombs brought their season total to 113. No other D1 college baseball team had 100 or more homers entering Tuesday.

The Vols' 43rd win of the season was not the smoothest, though, as Bellarmine recorded 12 hits to Tennessee's 14. But the Vols got more than enough runs to coast to the victory.

Here's what happened.

Sechrist Starts Off on the Wrong Foot, UT Answers

Zander Sechrist–who started for UT on Tuesday–has been terrific in his nine midweek starts this season, allowing just six earned runs and 21 hits while dealing 40 strikeouts in 37 innings pitched.

However, Sechrist gave up his fourth home run of the season when Bellarmine's leadoff hitter Matt Higgins left the yard on the second pitch of his AB. Higgins–Bellarmine's best hitter–recorded his 20th homer of the season with his solo bomb in Knoxville. The senior left fielder is also the Knight who was responsible for all three of Bellarmine's runs against the Vols last time the two teams squared off.

Bellarmine continued to find success against Sechrist when Ashton Smith followed up Higgins' homer with a single, but Sechrist was able to find some command and retire the side to keep Tennessee's deficit at one run.

In the bottom of the first, the Vols wasted no time getting on the scoreboard, and they took the lead while at it.

The Vols scoring got started with a sac fly from Jordan Beck to score Seth Stephenson who drew a leadoff walk. Tennessee's second and final run of the inning came from a Trey Lipscomb RBI double to right center to score Luc Lipcius, who had gotten on base with a single before advancing to second on a failed pickoff attempt.

Lipscomb was stranded to end the inning as Blake Burke flied out, but Tennessee quickly responded to Bellarmine's run with a two-punch strike of their own.

Vols Extend Lead in the Fourth

Sechrist rebounded to retire the Knights in order on five pitches in the second inning, and the Vols stranded a pair in scoring position in the bottom of the frame to keep the one-run lead. But Tennessee was able to find more success at the plate in the third, scoring a pair of runs to take a three-run lead.

Wyatt Evans retired Bellarmine in order in the top of the third, and Jordan Beck and Drew Gilbert quickly got on base with a pair of singles in the bottom of the frame.

Blake Burke then got on base for the first time of the evening with a one-out HBP to load the bases for Cortland Lawson. Lawson drove in his 35th run of the season with an RBI single to center to give Tennessee a 3-1 lead. The Vols' fourth run came via wild pitch to score Gilbert that also advanced Lawson and Burke to second and third. The Vols could not bring home the pair of runners ISP as Charlie Taylor and Seth Stephenson each popped up, but Tennessee's pair of runs formed a healthy Big Orange lead heading into the fourth.

Tennessee and Bellarmine Trade Runs

Tennessee redshirt junior RHP Ben Joyce came on to pitch in the fourth and delivered a forgettable outing that simply kept the Volunteer Fireman warm for this weekend against Georgia.

Joyce allowed a pair of hits and a one-out RBI groundout that cut the Vols' lead to two runs. After Peyton Back drove in the Knights' second run of the evening with the dribbler to second base, Joyce's day was done after nine pitches.

Kirby Connell came on to pitch for Tennessee, who retired his first batter to prevent any more damage.

The Vols returned the favor in the bottom of the fourth with another RBI double from Trey Lipscomb that scored Jordan Beck who had reached on a fielder's choice earlier in the frame.

Will Mabrey Struggles in the Sixth Before Tennessee's Bats Blow it Open

Will Mabrey was the third Tennessee arm to come out of the bullpen on Tuesday, as the star junior reliever came on to pitch in the top of the sixth after Connell had retired the side with help from a 4-6-3 double play in the fifth.

Mabrey was far from his best, surrendering a one-out walk before allowing a two-out, two-run blast from Bellarmine's short stop Clayton Mehlbauer. Mabrey allowed back-to-back singles after the homer but was able to get out of the inning by getting a line out, a terrific leaping catch from Logan Steenstra at short stop, to prevent any more damage.

The Vols one-run lead did not last long though, as Drew Gilbert and Trey Lipscomb each left the yard on back-to-back ABs. Gilbert's homer was a three-run mammoth over the scoreboard, scoring Jorel Ortega who got on with a leadoff double and Jordan Beck who drew a walk. Gilbert's 387 ft. homer marked his fifth of the year.

While Gilbert's three-run bomb is hard to follow up, Trey Lipscomb did just that, smacking a second consecutive Tennessee long ball over the left center wall. Lipscomb's solo homer marked his team-leading 19th home run and 69th RBI of the season and gave the Vols a commanding 9-4 lead heading into the seventh.

solid contact on those blasts may be an understatement#GBO // #OTH // #BeatBellarmine pic.twitter.com/pFb1WuDSiU
— Tennessee Baseball (@Vol_Baseball) May 11, 2022

Bellarmine Adds Fifth and Final Run in the Seventh

Tennessee junior righty Mark McLaughlin got the ball for the Vols in the seventh and gave up three hits and a run. Matt Higgins got on base with a one-out double–his second extra base hit of the game–and Adam Smith laid down a single to right to give the Knights runners on the corners with one out for Jacob Mulcahy. Mulcahy made contact for his second hit of the night, driving in Higgins with an RBI single to right field.

McLaughlin–who has the lowest ERA of any Tennessee pitcher with minimum 25 innings pitched–found his groove against the next couple of Knights he faced, forcing a fly out and delivering a K to end the top of the frame.

Bellarmine's RHP reliever Ryan Johnson took the mound after the stretch and had success against Tennessee, striking out the side around a two-out Kyle Booker single.

Sewell Deals in the Eighth, Blake Burke Goes Yard

Camden Sewell took over the mound in the top of the eighth and sat the Knights down in order. The Vols extended their lead in the bottom of the eighth with a two-out, two-run bomb over the center field wall from Blake Burke.

Burke's 390+ ft. missile off the batter's eye marked his seventh of the season and gave UT an 11-5 lead. Drew Gilbert–who got on base with a one-out double–also scored on the home run.

Burke off the batters eye! He hits his third home run in the last 5 games and the Vols go up 11-5.#GBO // #OTH // #BeatBellarmine pic.twitter.com/6tZGZ9cbLP
— Tennessee Baseball (@Vol_Baseball) May 11, 2022

Christian Moore got on base after Burke's shot with a single to right but was stranded to end the inning.

Sewell stayed on the mound in the ninth, retiring the Knights in order around a two-out HBP to coast to the 43rd win of the season.

Up Next

The Vols have their second consecutive quick turnaround this week as the series opener against the Bulldogs is on Thursday at 7 p.m. ET in Lindsey Nelson Stadium. ESPNU will have the stream.

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Photo Credit: UT Athletics Communications

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