Blake Burke launches towering home run over batter's eye to tie game vs. Florida

Thursday night’s highly anticipated college matchup between the No. 3 Florida Gators and the No. 11 ranked Tennessee Volunteers has not disappointed early in Knoxville, Tennessee. Tennessee slugger Blake Burke continues to show that he’s one of the best players in all of college baseball. In 107 at bats thus far this season, he’s belted 11 home runs. He drilled No. 11 early Thursday night in the bottom of the second inning against the Florida Gators. The home run blast tied the game up between Florida and Tennessee at 1-1 in the bottom of the second inning.

Check it out below as Burke sends this one deep over the center field wall.

Blake Burke swings a damn 2-iron ☠️ pic.twitter.com/r5V5X1rPAS

— 11Point7: The College Baseball Podcast 🎙 (@11point7) April 7, 2023

Burke has homered nearly one out of every 11 times he’s been at the plate this season. Coming into Thursday night’s matchup, he was also batting .330. He currently leads the Vols in total bases (76) and by a fairly significant margin.

Unfortunately for Tennessee, the Florida Gators throttled them on Thursday night, winning 6-1. They showed why they’re one of the top five teams in college baseball, blasting numerous home runs on the night.

Tennessee has two more games left in the series, one slated for Friday night, April 7th. That one is slated for 7:00 PM EST. The other game is slated for Saturday, April 8th. That one is slated for 2:00 PM EST. After their series with Florida, the Vols will face Eastern Kentucky on Tuesday, April 11th. That one will start at 6:30 PM EST.

Burke exploded onto the scene last year as a freshman, earning freshman All-American honors from Perfect Game and Collegiate Baseball. He also reeled in SEC All-Freshman team honors. In the 2022 NCAA Tournament against Campbell, Burke tied the Vols’ record for home runs by a freshman–after he launched his 14th home run of the season.

Burke had a prolific high school baseball career in California

As a high school prospect, he was ranked as the No. 326 overall prospect in the country by Prep Baseball Report. Burke was also named a second team All-American by Collegiate Baseball in 2021. His senior year, he batted .554 with six home runs and 32 RBIs in just 24 games. De La Salle (Brentwood, California) went 78-10 overall during his four seasons there. The team also won back-to-back North Coast Section Division I titles when he was a freshman and a sophomore. He was named the 2021 West Coast Preps Bay Area Baseball Athlete of the Year.