Tennessee (27-1, 9-0 SEC) captured its 19th consecutive victory and swept the Commodores (20-7, 4-5 SEC) in Nashville for the first time since 2009.
Drew Beam pitched a complete game, Tennessee’s first of the 2022 campaign, and had a two-hit shutout. He surrendered singles to Vanderbilt’s Spencer Jones and Dominic Keegan.
Beam (6-0) finished the contest with four strikeouts.
The Vols and Vanderbilt were scoreless through the first three innings and Drew Gilbert broke the tie in the top of the fourth with a solo home run.
Luc Lipcius had an RBI single in the seventh inning and Jorel Ortega drove in a run with a hit in the eighth. Gilbert, who went 2-for-5 with three RBIs and one run, culminated Tennessee’s victory with a two-run single in the ninth inning.
Tennessee’s 9-0 start to SEC play is its best in program history and is the second best of any SEC team since the league expanded in 1992. The only team with a better record to start conference play is Florida in 1994 (10-0).
The Vols have also not trailed in a game since March 13 during the first inning against Rhode Island. Tennessee has not trailed for 116.0 consecutive innings played.
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