Inside Blake Burke and Christian Moore's homer-bashing, record-trading chase for Tennessee baseball

The sound splintered Christian Moore’s post-homer revelry.

The Tennessee baseball junior has heard Blake Burke hit enough balls to know the sound of a Burke home run when he hears it. Moore’s eyes tracked the ball soaring toward right field at Lindsey Nelson Stadium. It smacked the wall, feet shy of the homer Moore was certain he’d see.

Moore and Burke were tied: The two Vols sluggers had 42 career homers each, deadlocked atop the record book in Tennessee history. The tie lasted two days. It was tied and untied within two pitches four days later. It flipped again another day later. That’s the chase Burke and Moore are locked in for the rest of the season.

“Who wouldn’t want to be the home run king?” Moore said. “You work so hard to get yourself in a situation to be a great player but you don’t really think about that. I never thought I could be the home run king at Tennessee.”

One of them will be. Possibly both. Burke and Moore are swinging in uncharted territory: They are record-breakers looking to be record-setters. They are competing together and against each other with the chance of leaving Tennessee with an unbreakable home run record.

The path to Tennessee baseball home run record started in 2022

Moore smiled and said he was scared.

Burke broke the program record when he hit his 41st homer at Auburn on April 6. He hit No. 42 on April 14 against LSU. Then Moore hit two homers against the Tigers to equal Burke. Moore figured Burke would pull ahead two days later against Bellarmine. He did with a grand slam.

“How crazy that all of the years of Tennessee baseball that these two are here at the exact same time?” Vols hitting coach Josh Elander said.

Call it a sprinkle of luck and a surplus of good, hard recruiting.

Moore earned his reputation throwing 90 mph as a freshman in high school. The Brooklyn native was a five-star athlete with what the Vols call “crazy pop” in his swing. Burke caught Elander’s eye with a lovely lefty swing. The Bay Area basher turned around a 92 mph fastball and sent a laser down the left-field line as a freshman with Elander in attendance.

“It is such a beautiful swing that if my wife went recruiting, she would be like, 'Oh that guy should play for Tennessee, right?' She has seen a lot of baseball, too,” Elander said.

The Vols got both to campus despite legitimate pro possibilities for the pair in the 2021 MLB Draft.

They each hit double-digit homers as part-time starters on Tennessee’s legendary 2022 team. Burke tied the UT freshman record with 14. Moore hit 10. They watched Luc Lipcius and Evan Russell vie for — and ultimately break — Todd Helton’s school career record for homers of 38.

Neither imagined they’d be in the same position two years later to break Lipcius' record of 40.

“I never thought we would be able to reach up to the numbers he got to,” Burke said of Helton.

How Blake Burke, Christian Moore have developed as hitters

Moore matched Burke again with homer No. 43 when he hit a leadoff homer Saturday at Kentucky. Burke took the top spot back two pitches later with his 44th homer at the top of coach Tony Vitello’s powerful lineup.

“It is a good strategy by V — just stack the big leaguers in the order up top,” Elander said.

Burke and Moore moved into central roles as sophomores. They kept smashing baseballs with Moore hitting 17 and Burke hitting 16.

They have changed as hitters along the way. The key theme for both is being smarter hitters opposed to relying on raw talent.

The regimen-focused Burke leans into scouting reports, video, and studying how pitchers will attack him. He goes in with a plan to attack. He is selectively aggressive and punishes fastballs. He trusts his ability to hit to all fields, which is why he is hitting better than .400 as a junior. Moore lauded Burke as one of the contact hitters in college baseball.

Moore loves the technical side, which has allowed him to excel. He didn’t know much about ride and sink and spin rate as a freshman. He does now. He accepts you won’t always hit the pitch you want and have to hit the pitch you get often.

Moore exemplifies what Elander preaches — he is on the hunt in the box. Burke admires Moore’s ability to do damage to right-center, a trademark of his entire career.

“They are the full package where they can hit for average and also for power,” Elander said. “They also have matured to know when to take a shot and know when to be aggressive, but also know when to dial it back in and execute in different situations.”

Their respective growth set the table for this season. Burke had 30 homers and Moore had 27 entering their junior years. Neither fully grasped how close they were to the record and how attainable it would be.

“Now, the hype is getting a little crazier because we are hitting more homers and getting closer to the end of the season,” Moore said.

How Blake Burke, Christian Moore are approaching Tennessee baseball record

Moore flashed his opposite-field power to again tie Burke on Sunday. He wasn’t done. He homered again to right to become the first Vol with 45 homers. He bashed a third to left to reach 46 and take a two-homer edge over Burke.

“I am just glad to be in the conversation and on this chase,” Moore said. "We will see what happens.”

What is happening is hard to fathom. It is a Tennessee version of the summer of 1998 with Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa chasing Roger Maris’ record of 61 homers. But Burke and Moore are on the same team, hitting back-to-back in the same lineup.

Someone is going to win and someone is going to lose — or maybe it’ll end in a tie, as both have quipped that could be the ideal outcome.

“There is some competition there, obviously,” Burke said. “We both want it.”

They share a few feelings on the chase. Both understand there is no space to start hunting home runs only. That’s where hitting struggles creep in. They enjoy the little prod one gains by taking a lead in the race. They’d both trade all their homers when all is said and done to win a national championship this season.

Burke and Moore could swing the Vols that far, leading the way for a lineup that leads the country in homers. The kid from New York City and the California kid will duke it out until the end, hitting missiles into the record book.

“Whoever comes out on top, comes out on top,” Burke said.

For now, just sit back and listen for the sound.

Mike Wilson covers University of Tennessee athletics. Email him at michael.wilson@knoxnews.com and follow him on Twitter @ByMikeWilson. If you enjoy Mike’s coverage, consider a digital subscription that will allow you access to all of it.

This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Blake Burke, Christian Moore locked in Tennessee baseball record chase