The Tennessee Volunteers (11-4, 1-0 Southeastern Conference) jumped out to a five-run lead and held on despite a late LSU rally to get a 6-5 win over the Tigers (11-4, 0-1 SEC) in the SEC opener for each team.

Steve Crnkovich picked up the win to move to 4-0 on the season. The sophomore lasted 7 1/3 innings, allowing four earned runs on six hits and one walk while striking out four.

Crnkovich has now picked up arguably the Vols two biggest wins of the season, having defeated Texas two weeks ago and the Tigers Friday.

"Right now I'm just getting the ball and just trying to do my best," Crnkovich said following the game. "It doesn't really matter what team we're playing."

Andy Simunic went 2-for-3 at the plate with a solo home run and two runs scored to pace the Vols, who now have six straight wins after dropping three straight following the win over Texas.

"We have a lot of energy," Simunic said to explain the turnaround. "Our pitching staff has done a great job and a lot of our young guys are stepping up."

The Vols struck first in the bottom of the second when designated hitter Jeff Lockwood singled to drive in catcher Yan Gomes from second base. Gomes reached base with a leadoff double off LSU starter Jared Bradford.

Simunic extended the lead to 2-0 with a solo home run on a lined shot to left field in the bottom of the third. The homer was Simunic's first of the season and just the second during his career at Tennessee.

"Anytime I get one out of the park it's a surprise," Simunic said. "I'm just glad I could help the team out."

Anytime I get one out of the park it's a surprise. Andy Simunic

The Tigers pulled a run back to start the top of the fifth when clean-up hitter Matt Clark ended Crnkovich's bid for a perfect game with his seventh home run of the season on a bomb over the right field wall. Crnkovich then hit Sean Ochinko with a pitch before retiring Jared Mitchell for the first out of the inning.

D.J. LeMahieu followed the out with a single to put runners on the corners with only one out. However, Leon Landry grounded a ball back to Crnkovich in the next at-bat to allow the Vols to turn a double play and escape trouble.

"After things like that happen you just have to step back and try to reset," Crnkovich said of the tough start to the inning. "In the end it's just you and the catcher playing catch."

The Vols responded with a two-out rally in the bottom of the inning to regain control of the game. Tennessee's first two batters of the inning each struck out before Cody Grisham was hit by a pitch and Simunic drew a walk.

Freshman phenom Kentrail Davis followed Simunic with a triple off the wall in center to bring in the two baserunners and give the Vols a 4-1 lead. Davis then scored to widen the margin to four runs when Cody Brown singled on a ground ball to the left side of the infield.

"We got some good pitches to hit," Davis said of the rally. "We capitalized on the mistakes he made pitching to us and we made some good swings on him."

Bradford walked both Gomes and Lockwood to start the sixth before being replaced by Austin Ross.

The LSU starter struck out nine batters but allowed six earned runs on six hits and three walks in five innings to take the loss. Bradford had allowed only three earned runs on the entire season entering the game.

Tennessee's Daniel Beasley pinch hit for Josh Liles after the pitching change and laid down a sacrifice bunt to move the runners to second and third with one out allowing Tanner Moore to drive in Gomes with a groundout making the score 6-1.

LSU trimmed a run off the lead in the top of the seventh when Clark drove in Blake Dean on a groundout. Dean reached base with a leadoff triple after Davis slipped while attempting to run down Dean's deep fly ball to center.

Everybody's been down on us this year. Hopefully we'll change that around. Kentrail Davis

Ochinko followed the RBI groundout with a lined double off the wall in left center before Crnkovich recorded a strikeout and pop out to retire the side.

The Tigers clawed back closer in the top of the eighth to put an end to Crnkovich's night. LSU third baseman Michael Hollander drew a one-out walk and scored when Ryan Schimpf followed with a triple.

Designated hitter Derek Helenihi then singled to score Schimpf to trim the lead to 6-4 and knock Crnkovich out of the game.

Lockwood moved from the DH spot to the mound and picked up the second out of the inning on an odd play when Dean began to go to first base and Helenihi moved toward second on what the Tigers believed was ball four.

However, the pitch was actually only ball three and the Vols tagged out Helenihi in a run down. Dean then grounded out to end the inning.

The Vols were retired in order in the bottom of the eighth before the Tigers put together a threat in their final at bat.

Clark reached base to open the inning for LSU when Lockwood failed to step on first base after a ground ball. Ochinko then hit ground ball to second where Clark was retired. However, the Vols failed to turn the double play when Grisham's throw to first went wide of the bag.

Mitchell followed with a single when Simunic failed to make a diving catch on a flare to shallow right field with Ochinko moving to third on the play. Aaron Everett was then called out of the bullpen to replace Lockwood and promptly struck out the first batter he faced.

Landry followed the strikeout with a single to right to plate Ochinko and cut the Tigers deficit to one run before Everett induced a ground ball to short and Landry was retired at second to end the game.

The Vols will look to extend their win streak to seven games tomorrow at 1 p.m. in the second game of the series. Ryan Verdugo will take the mound for the Tigers and look to duplicate Crnkovich's 4-0 record.

Bryan Morgado is the scheduled starter for the Vols and will look to continue his strong start to the season. The redshirt freshman has a 2-1 record with an ERA of 0.86 and 31 strikeouts through the first three starts of his career at Tennessee.

Saturday's game will be televised regionally on SportSouth.