How Tennessee baseball proved something new in its sweep against LSU
Nate Snead glanced toward the LSU dugout Saturday.
The Tennessee baseball pitcher made a holster motion with his right arm, putting it away on his hip after putting the Tigers down and clinching another win against them.
The Vols had two victories and they would get a third Sunday. They swept the defending national champions at Lindsey Nelson Stadium with a new formula: They pitched, scrapped and battled.
“We are adding different ways to a Rolodex of ways to win games, which is nice," coach Tony Vitello said Saturday. "You will take them any way you can get them."
Here is how the No. 4 Vols (30-6, 10-5 SEC) swept the Tigers (22-15, 3-12):
How Tony Vitello assessed Tennessee baseball's sweep vs LSU
Vitello used the same word repeatedly to describe Tennessee's series-clinching win 3-1 Saturday: Gutty.
He added that the overall weekend theme was "just keep pushing forward."
That hard-fought Saturday win, which featured a sixth-inning clutch hit from Dylan Dreiling to flip the game for the Vols, followed a 6-3 win Vitello called somewhat ugly. Tennessee wrapped up the sweep Sunday by leaning into its stars and home runs, which has been a consistent theme. Christian Moore homered twice and Blake Burke homered once to provide six runs in the 8-4 win. Burke and Moore are tied for the UT career home run record with 42.
"Guys just kept moving in the right direction because we never had a big fireworks display on offense," Vitello said Sunday.
AJ Causey set a tone for Tennessee baseball pitching staff
AJ Causey spent time working on his mindset on the mound after two rocky Friday starts for Tennessee. The work showed in a dazzling relief effort in the opener.
Causey struck out seven in 4⅔ innings of scoreless relief. He allowed five hits and walked two after back-to-back efforts in which he allowed 15 earned runs on 15 hits in four innings.
“I got lost in the idea of starting," he said. "It was probably good for me to come out of the bullpen to get back to that mindset of pitch after pitch.”
Causey did, and it helped set the tone for the Tennessee staff.
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Drew Beam battled through 6⅔ innings Saturday, allowing one unearned run on eight hits with five strikeouts. Zander Sechrist struck out five and allowed two runs on six hits in 5⅔ innings Sunday. Chris Stamos started Friday. Snead was electric in relief Saturday. Kirby Connell pitched twice and became the all-time appearances record holder with 106. Aaron Combs hurled two key innings Sunday.
Billy Amick returns and rakes for Tennessee baseball
Billy Amick felt off when Tennessee played Ole Miss in late March. He had a stomachache the whole series and thought it was only that. He ended up having an appendectomy the Monday following the series.
Amick missed the next eight games before returning against LSU, and he came back without missing a beat. He slugged a two-run homer on the first pitch he saw Friday, then had a double and homer Saturday.
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“I don’t know if it’s relief, but it felt good," Amick said of the Friday homer. "It was nice. It’s always nice to hit a homer.”
Amick started all three games against LSU in the 3-hole and at third base.
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: Tennessee baseball vs LSU takeaways: 'Gutty' Vols get sweep vs Tigers
