Christian Moore ties the Tennessee program record for career home runs

On3 imageby:Eric Cain•04/14/24•

_Cainer

Make it two atop the leaderboard once more for the Big Orange as Christian Moore has now tied Blake Burke with his 42nd career home run on Sunday against the LSU Tigers in game three of the series.

The blast came in the bottom of the seventh and was a three-run shot to the porches in left field. The blast sailed 384 feet and was 99 miles per hour off the bat in exit velocity.

Blake Burke’s 40th career home run – that previously broke the all-time program record – came in the bottom of the third inning in solo fashion on Saturday, March 30 against Georgia. It was 117 miles per hour off the bat and travelled 411 feet. Burke homered twice since then, including once on Sunday prior to Moore’s two home runs.

The second baseman previously homered in the sixth inning on Sunday to give the Vols a 3-2 lead.

Moore and Burke are now tied for the all-time Tennessee home run marker at 42 while Luc Lipsius sits in third place at 40 and Evan Russell three back at 39. VFL and now Major League Baseball Hall of Famer – Todd Helton – finished with 38 career home runs and comes in fourth all-time.

Moore burst onto the scene as a true freshman in 2022, launching 10 home runs in just 118 at-bats to finish the season with a .305 average with 36 RBI as a part-time player. Moving into the everyday role as a sophomore in 2023, Moore hammered 17 long balls and drove in 50 runs while hitting .304 over 214 at-bats for a team that went to Omaha and competed in the College World Series.

So far this season, Moore leads the club with 15 home runs and has driven in 36. While primarily hitting leadoff, he’s registering a .355 clip at the plate.

The Brentwood, Calif. native, Burke belted 14 home runs in 2022 as a true freshman. He accomplished the feat in his first collegiate season in only 95 at-bats as a part-time player. As a sophomore in 2023, Burke launched 16 home runs and now sits at 10 home runs thus far into the 2024 campaign.

Throughout his career, Moore has played with USA Baseball (2023 summer) and was a four-time preseason All-American entering the 2024 campaign. He was recently named to the Midseason Golden Spikes Award Watch List.

For Burke, he has been named a Perfect Game Freshman All-American (2022), Collegiate Baseball Freshman All-American (2022) and to the SEC All-Freshman Team (2022). The first baseman was also named a Preseason All-American (2nd Team) by Baseball America ahead of the 2024 campaign.

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