Tennessee will go for a 10th consecutive victory Saturday afternoon at Georgia.
The ninth straight triumph came with ease.
Christian Moore and Christian Scott combined for five hits and five RBIs Friday night as the No. 18 Volunteers ventured into Foley Field and cruised 12-3 in the series opener. Tennessee improved to 32-14 overall and to 12-10 in Southeastern Conference play with just its third win all season away from Lindsey Nelson Stadium.
"When this team is relaxed, it allows them to be true to who they are," Tennessee coach Tony Vitello told reporters afterward. "As the game went on, I felt like our team got loose. It can work out the opposite way often, but our guys seemed to be more and more into it and more and more relaxed as the game went on."
The Bulldogs dropped to 25-20 and to 8-13 within the league.
Former Cleveland High School standout Camden Sewell picked up his fourth victory of the season, entering with one out in the fourth inning and working through the seventh. Sewell did not allow a hit until Georgia notched three consecutive two-out singles in the seventh that resulted in a run as the Bulldogs pulled within 7-2.
Sewell is 4-0 with a 2.95 ERA through nine appearances.
"Cam came in and did a great job," Vitello said. "That was a dangerous situation. They have a good lineup and can cause damage one through nine. Their table-setters had got on, and we were able to wiggle out of it."
Tennessee scored five times during its half of the seventh inning, with Moore's two-run homer to left field the big blast that made it a 6-1 game. Moore's homer followed RBI singles by Jared Dickey and Blake Burke.
Moore homered to straightaway center to lead off the ninth, his sixth homer in the past four games, and Zane Denton added a two-run blast to right to extend Tennessee's advantage to 10-3.
"We've got to come out tomorrow and fight like crazy," Georgia coach Scott Stricklin said. "Tonight certainly didn't go the way we wanted it to go. We had opportunities early, and it got away from us late."
Lindstrom commits
Tennessee landed the 11th football commitment for the 2024 signing cycle Friday, receiving a nonbinding pledge from defensive end Kellen Lindstrom, a 6-foot-5, 235-pounder from Springfield, Missouri. Lindstrom is a four-star prospect and the No. 27 defensive lineman in the 247Sports.com composite rankings.
The Vols have a class of commitments currently ranked ninth nationally.
Edwards in portal
B.J. Edwards has entered the NCAA transfer portal after one basketball season with the Vols.
The 6-foot-3, 188-pound point guard from Knoxville Catholic played in just 14 of Tennessee's 36 contests this past season, averaging 1.2 points and 0.6 rebounds. Edwards was the Volunteer State's No. 2 prospect in the 2022 signing cycle behind Antioch forward Brandon Miller, who starred at Alabama before declaring for the NBA draft.
Contact David Paschall at [email protected].