Tennessee baseball completed the weekend sweep of No. 9 Vanderbilt to stay unbeaten in SEC play three weekends into the conference slate. The series win marked Tennessee’s first over the Commodores since 2016 and first sweep of Vanderbilt since 2009.
The series sweep also capped off a year of success for Tennessee that it’s never seen against its instate rivals. For the first time in school history, the Vols swept Vanderbilt in football, men’s and women’s basketball and baseball — going 8-0 against the Commodores in the 2021-22 school year.
Not only did Tennessee sweep Vanderbilt, but none of the seven games were particularly close. Tennessee football coasted to a 45-21 victory over the Commodores. Kellie Harper’s third Tennessee team coasted to double-digit victories over Vanderbilt, 65-51 and 66-52. Tennessee’s men’s basketball team was on the ropes late in Nashville but pulled ahead late to earn a 68-60 victory before coasting in Knoxville, 73-64.
Vitello’s fifth Tennessee team earned the head coach’s first series win over the Commodores tallying more runs (16) than Vanderbilt did hits (11) in 6-2, 5-2 and 5-0 wins.
Tennessee swept the Commodores in baseball, football and men’s basketball in 1968-69 and in 69-70 but the women’s basketball programs did not meet on the hardwood those years.
In the years since, the Vols and Lady Vols have had a number of close calls but couldn’t pull off the sweep in all-four sports. A 1-1 women’s basketball record in 2008-09 kept Tennessee from the perfect 8-0 record.
Tennessee’s football, women’s basketball and baseball programs dominated the Commodores in 1990s but one men’s basketball loss 1990-91, 1995-96 and 1997-98 as well as two women’s basketball losses in 1993-94 kept Tennessee from pulling off the 7-0 sweep.
It’s been a strong year from the Tennessee athletic department with Josh Heupel stabilizing the football program, the men’s basketball team finishing second in the SEC regular season before winning the SEC Tournament title, the women’s basketball team returning to the Sweet 16 and baseball now as the No. 1 team in the country.
Vanderbilt felt the consequences, losing all seven meetings with its biggest rival.
One Response
UT did not go 7-0 vs Vandy, they went 8-0. !-Football, 2-Mbb, 2-Wbb, 3-Baseball