Blake Grimmer launched his third home run into the Vols’ bullpen in right, capping off a day at the plate that had been desired the two days prior.

In a game that head coach Josh Elander alluded to as the most important Sunday game of the season, his squad ponied up for six home runs — a season-best — including a program-record tying three-blast day from Grimmer. They earned a pair out of Levi Clark and one from Henry Ford en route to a 14-hit, 13-run day to shy away from a sweep on home turf against Ole Miss.

“Horses ran today,” Elander said.

By the time the third inning ended on Sunday, the Vols already had six hits and five runs.

“It’s basically us knowing what we’re capable of doing,” Grimmer said. “Every single day we come to the field and having faith in the guys that we have out there. And we know everybody on the field can get the job done, and we’re working hard to continue to do that every single day.”

Tennessee accounted for only five runs on nine hits Friday and Saturday. The Vols were two-hit in game two, posting a lone run on a Trent Grindlinger solo blast in the ninth inning to prevent a shutout.

Its big hitters have been missing in action more times than not, while slumps have gotten the best of them. Point in case, a two-game skid to open up the series against Ole Miss, posting a .145 batting average with a pair of losses.

At the heart of those struggles have been the guys who stepped up Sunday, though.

Grimmer’s strikeout numbers have been appalling as well, in a more pertinent fashion. He struck out three times in six at-bats, with just one hit to show in the first two games against Ole Miss. That includes two strikeouts on three pitches in Saturday’s fall-apart loss.

The answer included a historic performance that lands him as just the eighth player in program history to hit three bombs in a game. Grimmer tallied blasts in the third, seventh and eighth innings as part of a 4-for-5 day at the plate.

“Baseball is a hard game, and some days it’s not going your way, and some days it is,” Grimmer said. “And to be honest, we’re trying to grind every single day and play our baseball. We’re still yet to have played our best baseball.”

Grimmer’s second blast snuck off the foul pole — one he thought had no chance of staying fair. His third took off at 110 mph without a doubt.

“I think the only thing everyone can do is kind of just laugh when he hit the third one,” Clark said.

Ford had 26 strikeouts in conference play — four less than he had in 50 starts at Virginia a year ago. He answered with a 4-for-5 day, a triple shy of the cycle, with the only out recorded being a groundout.

“It helps everybody out,” Grimmer said. ”Obviously, (Ford) is an amazing ball player, and when he’s on, he’s one of the best players in the country, so having him hit like he did today, it really takes some stress off the other guys to try and just play free, basically.”

Clark’s struggles have been season-long. The slugger hit the epitome of a sophomore slump, but the belief in him never wavered — it just meant a new slot in the lineup. With Clark at a season average of .178 and one hit to show in the first two games, Elander bumped him to the very bottom of the order.

And that just happened to be the change of scenery Clark needed. He produced his first-career three-hit day, sending 425-foot and 438-foot rockets to the deepest parts of the park.

“I try not to look at the batting average too much, but I felt good at the plate today, so that gives me a good amount of confidence,” Clark said.

In five games as Tennessee’s nine-hole hitter, Clark is batting .444 with eight RBIs. He has a hit in every contest, accounting for a third of his season hit total in that spot. He is batting .154 anywhere else on the card.

“We had jokes at one point, ‘He’s the best nine-hole hitter in America,’” Elander said.

Grindlinger, Manny Marin and Blaine Brown were the only hitters to leave without a hit on Sunday, but each finished with a walk to reach base safely.

Searching for consistency is an art Tennessee baseball still cannot master. It put a three-game series on film at Mississippi State that could be built upon — then lost a home series to Ole Miss. In game three against the Rebels, it showed back up to the park with the tools to succeed and just one reason why it hasn’t been replicated consistently to this point.

“Sometimes just trying a little bit too hard,” Grimmer said. “That’s all I got.”

But consistency is more than just results, too.

“I think it’s clear if you look at the league, the back and forth and the parity, it’s definitely some challenges, but we don’t go consistency solely based on results,” Elander said. “We’re trying to go consistency in behaviors, and our routines, and how do you respond when things are going well and things are not? We’re looking at — the players joke all the time — over the course of 56 games, what works? Behavior-wise, habits-wise? So that’s where our consistency focus is.”

Tennessee can get caught up in what the league presents each weekend — after all, the remaining schedule has three top-15 series and a road bout at Kentucky. Getting lost in what the league has is a recipe for disaster in a season where the Vols have been dealt a jab, cross, hook and uppercut, sometimes all at once.

“It’s all about resiliency and how do you respond when you get punched?” Elander said. “We’ve been punched plenty now, but you know, we got to put ourselves in a position where, hey, we’re attacking each game as we go, but we want to be in the hunt, and we are right now.”

Tennessee’s next series is a challenge in itself, navigating the first Thursday through Saturday set of the season. They’ll welcome Alabama to Lindsey Nelson Stadium to cap off the homestand beginning April 23.