Tennessee opened its final Southeastern Conference series of the 2021 season on a winning note.
The No. 4 Volunteers claimed a 10-4 victory over No. 21 South Carolina Thursday night at Founders Park in Columbia.
Tennessee (41-13, 19-9 SEC) never trailed against the Gamecocks (32-19, 15-13 SEC) in the series opener.
The Vols took a 1-0 lead in the top of the third inning on a sacrifice fly by Max Ferguson that plated Pete Derkay.
Ferguson had a big night at the plate as he went 2-for-4 with a two-run homer, three RBIs and a run scored.
The Vols extended its lead to 7-0 as it scored six times in the fourth.
In the frame, Ferguson and Luc Lipcius both had two-run homers, while Connor Pavolony had an RBI single and Derkay drove in another run with a double.
The Gamecocks scored two runs in the fourth before adding a pair in the sixth to pull to within 10-4.
Tennessee picked up three runs in the ninth as Drew Gilbert tripled in a run. Evan Russell recorded an RBI double and Lipcius capped his night with a scoring single.
On the mound, Chad Dallas improved to 9-1 as he had another solid outing. He went 7.2 innings, surrendering four runs, five hits, one walk and struck out eight.
Sean Hunley notched his sixth save of the season as he tossed 1.1 innings, yielding two hits and fanning one.
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