Tennessee Volunteers’ home run streak earns them College World Series championship streak | News, Sports, Jobs

Tennessee infielder Christian Moore slides safely home and scores in the second inning of an NCAA College World Series game against Florida State on Wednesday in Omaha, Nebraska (AP Photo).

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Until he saw the back-and-forth messages in the text thread of LSU’s 1990s player group late this season, Skip Bertman didn’t realize that Tennessee’s 2024 team was making a serious run at the Holy Grail of college baseball records.

Bertman’s 1997 Tigers hit 188 home runs in 70 games en route to the second of two consecutive national championships and were the inspiration for the phrase “Gorilla Ball”, the description of the style of attack in an era when bats were souped up and balls flew out of stadiums at unprecedented speeds.

No team had come close to 188 until the Volunteers hit the 178-point mark this year. They are at 178 points in 70 games heading into Game 1 of the best-of-three College World Series finals on Saturday against Texas A&M.

“My God, I thought that was the only record that could never be broken,” the retired Bertman said Thursday from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, summarizing text message traffic among his former players. “And here they are, I guess, (178), which is incredibly close and obviously means they could break it in the future.”

The record is likely secure this year. The Vols would have to average nearly four home runs per game the rest of the season to break it – and that’s only if the finals last three games.

Tennessee currently ranks second all-time in home runs in a season and is the only team to have five players hit at least 20 home runs in a season.

“Truly amazing”, said Bertman.

Home runs are harder to hit at Charles Schwab Field than at Rosenblatt Stadium, where LSU teams regularly played in June in the 1990s.

The 1997 Tigers hit ten home runs in four CWS games. The ’24 Vols have hit five home runs in three games so far.

Christian Moore hit a home run and hit a cycle, and Kavares Tears also scored in their opening game against Florida State, but it took a triple, a double, a walk and three singles to bring them from a three-run deficit to a 12-11 walk-off victory.

Tears and Reese Chapman homered to power the Vols’ offense in their 6-1 win over North Carolina on Sunday. Blake Burke’s ninth-inning home run against Florida State on Wednesday all but sealed the 7-2 victory.

Tennessee has a CWS best of .321 and three of the top five hitters in its ranks: Moore (.571), Burke (.500) and Dreiling (.500). The Vols have a batting average of .333 with runners in scoring position, .375 with runners on base and .428 with two outs. The hitters leading the innings have a combined batting average of .357.

“We are simply fully staffed,” Said Vols pitcher Zander Sechrist. “And of course it prepares you for moments like this.”

Although Tennessee is built for power and can take advantage of its hitter-friendly ballpark in Knoxville, the club has already proven it can produce plenty of offensive power in a variety of ways at the sprawling Omaha Stadium.

“Sometimes things don’t go the way you want them to,” Coach Tony Vitello said: “but we knew our guys would consistently hit good shots. We knew they were very physical, and we knew we would have some depth.”

Bertman said he sees a lot of his 1997 team in the Vols, even though the bats they swing have been significantly toned down from those of three decades ago.

In 70 games, Tennessee has five sacrifice bunts and averaged 0.70 steals per game, ranking near the bottom of Division I in both games. LSU has had just four sacrifice bunts and averaged 1.01 steals in its 70 games in 1997.

“I’m sure the coach is betting on the home run. He doesn’t often hit a bunt or steal the ball. This is one way to do that.” said Bertman. “Honestly, it’s a wonderful performance by Tennessee.”

When asked what would happen if the 1997 LSU Tigers played against the 2024 Tennessee Volunteers in old Rosenblatt Stadium with bats from the late ’90s, Bertman laughed and said he could imagine lots of home runs and a final score of 30-28.

Bertman, 86, still watches a lot of college baseball games, especially in the Southeastern Conference, and he says Texas A&M is a team capable of matching the Vols’ offense.

The Aggies have allowed a total of three runs in three CWS games and rank in the top 10 nationally in ERA (3.86) and strikeouts per nine innings (10.8) this season and lead the country with 11 shutouts.

Justin Lamkin, who has thrown eight shutout innings in two CWS starts, has been a revelation as the No. 2 pitcher behind ace Ryan Pranger. They also have a strong bullpen with National Stopper of the Year Evan Aschenbeck as their closer. His ERA of 1.59 is the nation’s top.

“This team can throw,” said Bertman. “I mean, this team can really shoot.”

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AP College Sports: https://apnews.com/hub/college-sports