The No. 17 Tennessee baseball team capped off a weekend sweep over Georgia State with a 7-0 shutout Sunday afternoon. The Vols have won four games in a row, and own an 11-2 record. The Panthers were coming off an impressive win over No. 10 Georgia Tech, but fell to 4-9 with the sweep.

Here are three takeaways from Tennessee’s win.

Combined shutout

Georgia State was by no means a weak opponent. The Panther’s record slightly deceiving, as they have won four games against ranked teams, and two against top-10 programs. Tennessee pitching held Georgia State to one run both Friday and Saturday, and shut them out today.

Sophomore Mark McLaughlin started the game in place of injured Sunday starter Jackson Leath, and went the longest of any Vol pitcher today. He threw 3.2 scoreless innings, allowed two hits and three walks, and struck out three batters. In the fourth inning, McLaughlin gave up a two-out single, and Tennessee went to junior righty Elijah Pleasants.

Pleasants struck his first batter out, and continued to shut down the Panthers, eventually earning the win. He went 2.1 innings scoreless innings, gave up one hit, hit one batter and struck out three, all looking. Pleasants has worked 8.1 scoreless innings with nine strikeouts out of the bullpen, following two inconsistent starts to begin his season.

“I don’t think my stuff is any different,” Pleasants said on his improved success. “It’s kind of just changing my mindset, and how I approach the game. And knowing that I have great teammates and great defenders behind me, that’ll just always help me pitch a little bit better, and just learn to attack a little bit more.”

Zander Sechrist, Camden Sewell and Drew Gilbert combined to finish the rest of the game. None of them went for more than two innings, but they combined for just three hits and four strikeouts in the game’s final three innings.

Offense is finally clicking

Tennessee’s biggest strength from a year ago was its offense, but it hadn’t been up to par this year. One lacking contributor is junior Jake Rucker, who hit .339 with a 1.006 OPS last season, but has looked like a shell of himself at the plate entering the weekend, batting just .289 with no home runs.

It looks like Rucker has turned a corner with this series. He went 2-4 with an RBI both Friday and Saturday, before finishing his series off with another 2-4 effort, along with his first home run of the season, and a career-high four RBIs.

“I’ve been getting into a groove of playing games,” Rucker said. “It’s just getting into that rhythm, getting into that flow again, just being able to play . . . The opportunity has come, and I’ve been doing really well at the plate, and having the confidence. And having the team encourage me is a huge part as well.”

Rucker led the way, but all the Vols batters in general had a strong approach against freshman All-American pitcher Chad Treadway. Tennessee got to Treadway for four earned runs in 2.2 innings, four hits, a walk and a hit by pitch.

“To do it in fairly convincing fashion, and do it when they started on of their better arms, it breeds confidence among everybody in the building,” Tennessee head coach Tony Vitello said on the offense today.

Gilbert does it all

Sophomore two-way player Drew Gilbert showcased his versatility this afternoon, with a nice day at the plate, as well as on the mound.

Gilbert capped the four-run third inning with a two-run home run, the second of the frame. He sent the first pitch from Georgia State reliever Rafael Acosta to deep right field, taking the time to admire his handiwork, and adding an impressive bat flip to boot.

Gilbert tied Jordan Beck for the team lead in home runs with his third of the season. He has driven in eight runs and has an .887 OPS in 12 games this year.

On the pitching side, Gilbert made his second appearance of the season. He was asked to pitch the top of the ninth inning, following a scoreless outing last week.

Gilbert was not as dominant today as he was in his last outing. It took him 25 pitches to complete the frame, as the Panthers put up several good at-bats. Gilbert got his first batter to ground out, and struck out the second man he faced, his only strikeout of the day.

Gilbert surrendered a two-out walk to Blaine Marchman, and then allowed a hard-hit double to Kyle Riesselmann. Marchman, however, was thrown out at the plate to end the game, so no harm came from the double. On the season, Gilbert has pitched 3.0 innings to a 0.00 ERA, allowed two hits and one walk, and struck out four.

Up next

The Vols will travel to Charlotte, North Carolina for a midweek matchup with Charlotte (7-3). First pitch on Tuesday, March 9 is scheduled for 4 p.m. ET.