Vols hit 6 more HRs, Curley has 3 dingers and 9 RBIs in 15-5 UT win

A monster game from Tennessee’s freshman shortstop

After scoring 39 runs in the three-game weekend series against Bowling Green, the offense powered out 15 more runs, nine of which came off the bat of freshman SS Dean Curley via three deep balls, and Tennessee took the midweek-game win 15-5. Curley tied the program record for home runs in a game and set the record for RBIs by a freshman in a game.

13 of the offense’s runs came in innings two, three and four, with Dylan Dreiling starting things off in the B2 with a two-run home run that went 428 feet over the fence in left. This tied up the game after K-State scored two runs in the first off first-time starter Aaron Combs.

Blake Burke added another run with a double that scored Hunter Ensley after Ensley got hit by a pitch and Christian Moore moved him into scoring position with a single.

Snead entered the game in the top of the third and got all three outs without allowing any damage, and Tennessee’s offense really went to town in the bottom half of the frame.

Billy Amick hit his (still) team-leading eighth home run to lead the inning off:

Something I’ve noticed with this team is not only does it hit a lot of home runs, but the exit velocities and distances are consistently high. The official numbers for Amick’s bomb: 428 feet — just like Dreiling — 110 exit velo and a 37 degree launch angle.

Kavares Tears singled, Cannon Peebles walked and Dreiling singled, which set up Curley’s first HR of the night — a grand slam to left:

Moore drove in the sixth and final run of the half inning with his third home run of the year, a monster solo shot to left center.

Moore’s home run literally left the park, traveling 452 feet and leaving the bat at 112 MPH. Again, just monster metrics on the home run.

Snead gave up two runs in the T4, but the offense doubled it with four of its own.

Amick singled and Tears walked before Robin Villeneuve singled and drove home Amick. A Peebles walk put two on for Curley’s second home run — a three-run drive to left.

The bats were quiet for the fifth, but in the sixth, Curley hit his third home run after Peebles walked and Brandon Lohry came in as a pinch runner, though it didn’t matter as Curley left the park on a 2-2 pitch as the next batter.

After tonight, six of Curley’s eight hits for the year have been home runs. Curley was about a foot away from his fourth home run in the eighth inning, too, for what it’s worth.

The Wildcats scored their fifth run of the game in the top of the eighth on a solo home run off of UT reliever Andrew Behnke.

Overall, the relivers were solid, allowing three earned runs in seven innings of work. Snead, who pitched four innings, struggled with his command a bit and walked three while giving up two runs. Dylan Loy pitched the ninth and walked two-straight batters and then had a passed ball before he got the final out via swinging K, which gave him three Ks in the frame.

Tennessee committed just its sixth error of the year and made two base-running mistakes — two areas that last year’s team struggled with but haven’t been much of an issue so far this season. Fingers crossed tonight was the exception and not the rule.

The Vols play again tomorrow, facing Southern Indiana with the first pitch scheduled again for 6 PM.