Drew Beam Shines Again as Vols Complete Sweep of Ole Miss

Tennessee holds on to complete the sweep in Oxford on Sunday powered by Drew Beam's commanding outing.

OXFORD, MS– The No. 5 (D1Baseball.com) defeated No. 1 Ole Miss for the third consecutive day to complete the series sweep in their first road SEC series of the season. 

Tennessee glided past the Rebels 4-3 on Sunday afternoon to remain perfect in SEC play this season (6-0) and improve to a 23-1 overall record. 

The Vols were led by freshman RHP Drew Beam, who continued his magnificent start to his first season with the Vols as the day three starter. Beam threw six strikeouts and allowed three hits with one ER in 7.1 innings pitched. The freshman notched 61 strikes on 90 total pitches, leading to his commanding win to remain undefeated on the mound this season.

At the plate, Drew Gilbert finished out a highly efficient weekend in Oxford with a pair of RBIs off of a two-run triple in the top of the fourth to get the Vols on the scoreboard. 

Gilbert's concluded the weekend with five hits, four RBIs and six runs, with his two-run triple serving as a difference making play on Sunday. 

Tennessee's third run came from a Trey Lipscomb RBI groundout that scored Gilbert in the top of the fourth, and Luc Lipcius roped an RBI double to score Lipscomb in the top of the sixth for the Vols' fourth and final run. Lipscomb's RBI serves as his 44th of the season in 24 games. 

Jordan Beck got back on track in game three, delivering three singles on five at bats to make up for subpar Friday and Saturday performances. 

In Tennessee's 22 runs through the first two outings against Ole Miss in the series, Beck was not responsible for one, but the junior's bounce back Sunday saw him be responsible for one of Tennessee's four runs. 

Beck's three hits co-led the Vols on Sunday, as Seth Stephenson joined Beck as the other Vol to make record three hits, all of which being singles. 

Despite Ole Miss's ability to slow down Tennessee's hot bats, Beam's excellence on the mound did not allow the Rebels to ever get into rhythm and kept them scoreless through seven innings. 

Ole Miss was able to make it interesting in the eighth inning, scoring all three of their runs. Camden Sewell relieved Beam in the eighth after the freshman had given up his third hit of the afternoon, and the senior reliever went on to give up a single and three-run bomb as Ole Miss cut Tennessee's lead to one run. Redmond Walsh was able to get Tennessee out of the inning and keep the lead by striking out Ole Miss captain Tim Elko with two Rebels on base. 

Walsh struck out the side in the bottom of the ninth around a lead-off single and a two-out error from Jorel Ortega, as the super-senior earned the save in Tennessee's win. 

Beam's incredible day rounded out an all-around brilliant weekend from all of Tennessee's starters. All three made it to the seventh inning without giving up a run, with Dollander shutting out the Rebels in his time on the mound and Burns and Beam allowing only one run apiece.

Beam's ERA rests at 1.12 through his first six starts, and Beam, Dollander and Burns have combined for a 1.50 ERA so far this season, giving up 16 ER in 96 innings pitched. 

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Tennessee was not as electric at the plate on Sunday as they were the first two days against Ole Miss, but Drew Beam's performance further proves how UT has a deep, deep pitching staff, as Blade Tidwell and Seth Halvorsen are yet to make their season debut. And for Redmond Walsh to hold on and save the sweep for Tennessee is all the more encouraging to see out of the super-senior. 

Up next for Tennessee is a midweek matchup with Western Carolina on Tuesday evening at 5:30 p.m. ET in Lindsey Nelson Stadium, as the Vols return to Knoxville having swept the No. 1 team in the country and are on a 15-game winning streak. 

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Stat Corner, Notebook

-Tennessee's sweep of Ole Miss marks their fifth of the season, tying their sweep count of last season. It is tied for the most single-season sweeps of the Vitello era. The Vols have eight weekend series remaining. 

-Jared Dickey was gimpy after running out a fly out ball in the top of the fifth, and the freshman was not seen for the remainder of the game in Oxford. 

-Blade Tidwell was officially on the weekend active list ahead of Friday's matchup, and the sophomore flirted with making his first appearance of the season in the top of the ninth, as he was throwing in the Tennessee bullpen. However, Tony Vitello and Frank Anderson chose to keep Walsh on the mound to close it out. 

-Tennessee's sweep of Ole Miss is their first in Oxford since 2000. 

-Tony Vitello's win on Sunday marked the 157th victory of his career, tying Dave Serrano for third all-time in program history. 

-Tennessee's pitching staff threw 40 strikeouts and allowed only a pair of walks in the sweep of Ole Miss, and all of the Rebels' runs came off of home runs driving in the base runners. (solo shot (Friday), two-run shot, solo shot (Saturday), three-run shot (Sunday))

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