'Vols Take Series In Gainesville 
Tennessee won its 7th consecutive SEC series over the weekend at Florida.
After weather kept the teams off the field on Thursday, the Volunteers and Gators split Friday’s doubleheader before the Vols used an 11-run inning in Saturday’s finale to take the series.
It was Tennessee’s 4th straight series win in Gainesville.
The Vols are now 17-7 in SEC play and 39-9 overall and ranked No. 1 in the country.
Friday doubleheader game one
Tennessee struck first in the top of the 2nd.
After the first two batters singled and advanced to 2nd and 3rd on a wild pitch, Dean Curley’s 9-pitch at-bat resulted in an RBI single to right field. It was, IMO, the freshman shortstop’s best AB as a Vol and a sign of things to come for the weekend.
With runners now on the corners and still no outs, the Vols executed a delayed double steal with Hunter Ensley narrowly avoiding the tag at the plate to put Tennessee up 2-0.
Florida responded with two runs in the bottom of the inning to tie it up on a 2-out, 2-strike, 2-run home run just over the right field wall by the 8-hole hitter.
Those would be the Gators’ only runs in game one.
Vols starter Chris Stamos was efficient once again in his series-opener role. He stayed ahead in counts, throwing 1st pitch strikes to 10 of the 13 batters he faced.
After Christian Moore and Blake Burke led off the top of the 3rd with back-to-back 2-strike hits, Billy Amick doubled down the left field line to score Moore but Burke was thrown out at the plate after clearly running through the stop sign from 3rd base coach Josh Elander.
Dreiling then singled up the middle to bring Amick home and make it 4-0 Big Orange.
AJ Causey replaced Stamos to begin the bottom of the 4th and threw five scoreless innings, scattering four hits while striking out seven.
Tennessee added an insurance run in both the 8th and 9th innings. The first on a Reese Chapman sac fly in the 8th, then a Dreiling RBI single in the 9th.
After the first two Gators reached in the bottom of the 9th, Kirby Connell replaced Causey and got a line out and then a game-ending double play to earn his 4th save of the season.
Causey improved to 6-1 with the win.
Friday doubleheader game two
Tennessee got a 1-out triple from Blake Burke in the top of the 1st but Billy Amick and Dylan Dreiling had back-to-back strikeouts to stand Burke.
The Gators took a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the 3rd after a solo home run and then a 2-run shot off Vols starter Drew Beam.
Tennessee got on the board in the 5th when a Burke double to right centerfield scored Christian Moore from 1st.
It was a struggle at the plate for the Vols for much of the game. They failed to adjust to an expanded strike zone, which benefited Florida pitchers, who have walked the most batters in the SEC. Tennessee struck out 16 times in the night cap, five of them looking.
Billy Amick led off the top of the 8th with a no-doubter solo home run to left field to cut the Gators’ lead to 3-2.
The Vols’s 3rd baseman would give that run back back in the bottom of the inning as a throwing error led to an unearned run, which would turn out to be the game-winner.
Dean Curley led off the top of the 9th with a single. After pinch runner Ariel Antigua reached 3rd on two wild pitches, Cannon Peebles walked to put the tying run on base.
A C Mo RBI groundout plated Antigua and advanced the tying run into scoring position at 2nd base but Amick popped out to 1st base to end it and give the Gators the 4-3 victory.
Somehow, it was the first SEC game this season where Florida never trailed.
Saturday
The rubber game started with some excitement as Vols leadoff hitter Christian Moore was called out for runner’s interference after an errant throw by the pitcher on a swinging bunt.
Florida struck first with a 2-run home run in the bottom of the 1st.
After Tennessee replaced starter Zander Sechrist with Nate Snead to begin the bottom of the 3rd, the Gators extended their lead to 3-0 after another throwing error from 3rd baseman Billy Amick scored an unearned run.
The Vols bats finally got going in the 4th inning. With two on and two outs, Hunter Ensley worked the count full before doubling down the left field line to score two and make it a 3-2 game.
Tennessee then exploded for 11 runs in the 6th inning.
Ensley had five RBIs in the frame himself, two on a double and later a 3-run opposite field blast that made it 13-3. The Vols centerfielder was 3-for-4 with two doubles, a home run, seven RBIs and two runs scored in the series finale.
Ensley had only seven hits with runners in scoring position for the season before having three of them in the game alone.
Christian Moore and Blake Burke hit back-to-back opposite field home runs in the 9th for run-rule insurance runs.
But Snead didn’t need those, as he limited the Gators to just two hits and one unearned run over the final five innings to earn the win and improve to 8-1 on the season.
Notes:
— Christian Moore set the tone from the leadoff spot but
Dean Curley had his best weekend at the plate as a Vol. Competitive ABs that worked counts all series by fouling off good pitches. He hit a team-high .571 (4-of-7) with three runs, three RBI, three walks and a HBP. As one of four Vols to start all 24 SEC games to date, Curley is tied for 3rd on the team with a .333 batting average in league play and has drawn more walks than strikeouts. For good measure, he’s also a team-best 6-for-6 in stolen bases against SEC competition.
—
Tennessee had seven players who started all three games vs Florida. All seven of them hit at least .300, and they were a combined 32-for-77 (.416). Kavares Tears was working his way back from injury and with him in the lineup, that’s eight very solid bats. Tennessee still needs to figure out what it wants to do with that DH spot as the postseason inches closer. Switch-hitting catcher Cannon Peebles is hitting just .097 in SEC play.
Robin Villeneuve got off to a very hot start but has really struggled in SEC play with a 52.6% strikeout rate.
Dalton Bargo and Reese Chapman are a combined 17-of-83 (.205 BA) in league play. Another potential solution could be sliding Dean Curley to 3rd base and starting Ariel Antigua at shortstop but he’s just 1-of-6 with four strikeouts vs SEC pitching.
Plus, moving Amick into the DH role would hurt his draft stock and while the team winning always trumps a player’s draft stock, it’s still something that coaches take into account.
— For all the questions and concerns about Tennessee’s pitching, the Vols are 5th nationally in ERA (3.84), 4th in WHIP (1.22) and 3rd in strikeouts-to-walks ratio (3.41). Not bad in a hitter’s park. And imagine how much better they could potentially be if AJ Russell returns in a limited role in the postseason.
— The Vols travel to Nashville this weekend for a series with a reeling vAnderbilt squad that was swept at Georgia last weekend with two run-rule blowout losses.
Tennessee has a 7-game winning streak over the Dores and it’ll make their 2nd straight trip to the West End as the No. 1 team in college baseball.
I'll be on with the guys today ... Looking forward to picking Chris Burke's mind ... He's a baseball genius.
@Mattdixon3'
@TonyBasilio
