No. 5 Tennessee extended its winning streak to 10 games and clinched its opening series in Southeastern Conference play with a 5-2 victory over South Carolina Saturday before 3,987 fans at Lindsey Nelson Stadium.
The Volunteers (18-1, 2-0 SEC) led 2-0 in the first inning as Luc Lipcius hit a solo home run and Jorel Ortega had an RBI single.
Ortega went 2-for-4 with a double, two RBIs and two runs scored against the Gamecocks (10-8. 0-2 SEC).
UT extended its advantage to 3-0 in the bottom of the third as Jordan Beck homered.
Beck went 3-for-4 with two runs, one stolen base and one RBI.
South Carolina pulled to within 3-1 in the top of the fourth when Kevin Madden hit a solo home run.
Ortega had a scoring double and Blake Burke added an RBI triple for the Vols in the fifth to make it 5-1.
The Gamecocks added a run in the eighth inning when Brandt Belk hit a solo home run off Tennessee reliever Will Mabrey.
Vols’ starter Chase Dollander (3-0) pitched five innings and had seven strikeouts. He gave up one run, three hits and one walk.
Mabrey pitched three innings. He yielded one run and two hits while striking out three.
Closer Redmond Walsh pitched a scoreless ninth inning. He earned his second save of the season.
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