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Jared Dickey mashes grand slam, gives Vols 8-1 lead over Kentucky

Barkley-Truaxby:Barkley Truax•05/13/23•

BarkleyTruax

Jared Dickey
Icon Sportswire / Contributor PhotoG/Getty

The long ball has been the story of Tennessee‘s series against Kentucky this weekend, and that narrative continued into the fourth inning of Saturday’s game.

Vols outfielder Jared Dickey crushed a towering home run off Kentucky reliever Austin Strickland with the bases loaded with two down and an 0-2 count. The no-doubter is good for his 12th home run of the season.

The homer gave the Vols an 8-1 lead and has Tennessee in full control as it looks to lock up the series win after just two games.

As the Wildcats try to claw their way back into this one, you can catch the rest of the game live on the SEC Network.

Tony Vitello says Cal Stark was ‘outstanding’ in Friday’s win over Kentucky

Tennessee catcher Cal Stark rose to the occasion on both sides of the plate during the Vols’ 10-6 victory over Kentucky on Friday. 

Stark added the final of seven runs Tennessee scored in the bottom of the third inning with an RBI double. It was his only hit for the night and would finish 1-3 with a walk. Defensively, he was even more impressive. Stark picked off UK’s Ryan Waldschmidt after a leadoff single in the first and later in the seventh, executed a back pick and caught Émilien Pitre trying to scurry back to first base. 

“It was outstanding. If you just go off the stat sheet, we erase three of their baserunners [because of Stark] and obviously, he had a big part of that. … But the biggest thing he does just comes with energy, preparation, and communication is a really important part of his game,” Vitello said postgame. “And no matter whether it’s him or Chuck (Charlie Taylor) in there, you get at-bats where you feel like — if you’re not cheering for them and watching every pitch, you’re doing them an injustice to them or the team. 

“That’s just the type of guys they are. But also every at-bat is a fight with those two guys, so look forward to Chuck’s next at-bat and of course, it’s been good to have Cal back there defensively and offensively.” 

Aside from Stark and Taylor, DH Griffin Merritt was masterful at the plate for Tennessee. He mashed two home runs and batted in five of the Vols’ 10 runs. His two home runs tied and then passed 1B Blake Burke for most long balls on the team with 16. Outfielders Hunter Ensley and Jared Dickey also went yard once each, giving Tennessee a collective five home runs on the night.