Tennessee baseball opened their final conference series of the season on Thursday night with a convincing win. The Volunteers handled the Gamecocks without any drama.

Tennessee and South Carolina traded first inning homeruns to kick things off. It was Christian Moore going deep for Tennessee, nodding things up at 1-1 in the bottom of the first.

Tennessee would quickly blow things open in the bottom of the third. Another Christian Moore homerun would break the tie, giving the Volunteers a 2-1 lead. Kavares Tears would follow that up with a three-run shot of his own, driving in Hunter Ensley and Dylan Dreiling.

Very quickly, it was a 5-1 lead for No. 1 Tennessee.

Tony Vitello turned to AJ Causey on the mound in the fourth, relieving starter Chris Stamos.

Blake Burke drove in Cal Stark in the bottom of the fourth, drilling a line drive to the opposite field all the way to the wall. Tennessee carried a 5-1 lead into the fifth inning, and Causey was rolling.

Tennessee came back in the bottom of the seventh with plenty of insurance. Billy Amick doubled down the line to score Christian Moore, then Dylan Dreiling smacked a homerun to right center. The Volunteers were cruising from here, holding a 9-2 lead entering the eighth inning.

South Carolina would eventually get to Causey, forcing him out of the game in favor of Kirby Connell. The Gamecocks would drive in one, but that’s all they got.

Connell close things out in the top of the ninth without any issues. Tennessee went on to win, 9-3.

Tennessee and South Carolina will meet again tomorrow at 6:30 p.m. ET. SEC Network + will have the coverage.

A 3.8 magnitude earthquake shook northwestern Tennessee early Thursday morning, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

The earthquake hit around 3:19 a.m. local time about 4 miles south of Ridgely, Tennessee, about 13 miles northwest of Dyersburg and about 150 miles west of Nashville, according to the USGS.

According to the USGS, light to moderate shaking could be felt around the region, including as far south as Memphis and as far north as Carbondale, Illinois. The quake hit at a depth of about 4.5 miles, according to the agency, and no damage or injuries were immediately reported.

According to the USGS, there is not one magnitude above which damage will occur. It depends on other variables, such as the distance from the earthquake, what type of soil you are on, building construction, among others. However, the USGS says damage does not usually occur until the earthquake magnitude reaches somewhere above 4 or 5.

Gabe Hauari is a national trending news reporter at USA TODAY. You can follow him on X @GabeHauari or email him at Gdhauari@gannett.com.