Tennessee baseball opened up SEC play in the win column Friday night, taking the series opener over Georgia 7-4 in Athens. How the Vols got it done was unexpected with Tennessee bashing three home runs late in the game to take control.
Henry Ford hit the first long ball, turning on a high fastball and sending it 381 feet to left field to give Tennessee a 5-4 lead in the seventh inning.
In the eighth inning, Justin Byrd hung an 0-2 breaking ball to Stone Lawless and he took it 376 feet to left field to push Tennessee’s lead to two runs. Just two batters later, Manny Marin gave the Vols more insurance by taking a 1-2 pitch deep to left field to score the final run of the game.
“It’s an offensive ballpark, there’s no doubt about it,” Tennessee head coach Josh Elander said. “I don’t know if it’s the construction or whatever. It seems like from when we were here in the past to now, the ball is flying a little bit more. But it definitely is contagious, right?”
Marin has been on a tear over the last few games after struggling early in the season. His home run wasn’t even his best swing of the night. That game in the top of the sixth inning with two-on and two-outs when Marin took an 0-2 pitch the other way for a two-RBI double.
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The extra-base hit tied the game just a half inning after Georgia scored four runs to take the lead. It was a moment in the game where Tennessee easily could have let things spiral but instead responded.
“He’s played in this league, he knows what this league is like,” Elander said. “Dominating the average play, two-strike hit, staying to the ball not trying to do too much, and then gets a mistake and drives it out of the yard, so he’s doing a lot of things at a high level right now.”
Tennessee taking the opener with power hitting was unexpected. The Vols hit three home runs in the win after ranking last in the conference with just 27 home runs through their first 17 games of the season. Last weekend against Wright State, the Vols hit just three home runs. The weekend before that against power five competition in Arlington, Tennessee hit just one home run.
As Elander noted, Foley Field is a hitter friendly park. But so is Lindsey Nelson Stadium. Tennessee’s three home run game was a welcome surprise and a trend they hope to continue the remainder of the weekend.
