Evan Russell swung a big bat for Tennessee Friday, helping the Volunteers win its series opener against Florida.
Russell, a senior left fielder for the Volunteers, went 3-for-4 with a home run, a double, three RBIs and a run scored in Tennessee’s 6-4 victory over the Gators at Lindsey Nelson Stadium.
He was the biggest offensive star of the night for the No. 4 Vols, but he received plenty of help from a supporting cast.
Drew Gilbert had two hits, drove in a run and scored another for UT (26-5, 8-2 SEC), which won its fourth consecutive game.
Liam Spence went 2-for-3 with a double, one run and an RBI, while Jake Rucker went 1-for-3 with a double, driving in one and scoring another for the Vols, who took a 1-0 lead against No. 9 Florida (20-10, 5-5) on Spence’s RBI single in the bottom of the third inning.
The Gators would answer and take the lead in the top of the fourth as Nathan Hickey and Kirby McMullen clubbed back-to-back solo home runs off Tennessee starter Chad Dallas.
Russell’s two-run double in the fourth coupled with Gilbert’s scoring single in the fifth, giving Tennessee a 4-2 advantage.
Florida’s Jud Fabian homered in the seventh and Colby Halter added an RBI single to help the Gators pull even.
Rucker gave the Vols the lead for good with a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the frame before Rucker’s homer provided an insurance run in the eighth.
On the mound, Dallas improved to 5-0 as he went seven innings and struck out 11.
He gave up four runs (three earned) and seven hits.
Reliever Sean Hunley closed things out with a pair of scoreless innings. He had one strikeout en route to his fourth save.