Zane Denton dating Taylor Swift? How a Tennessee baseball home run got an Internet joke started

Ask Tennessee baseball players, and Zane Denton's recent home run surge is a direct result of a blossoming relationship. ...

With Taylor Swift.

Wait, what?

Denton, who has 15 home runs this season, including three in last weekend's Clemson Regional, was thrust into the clearly bogus misinformation campaign in the baseball team's GroupMe chat, all pointing to a coupling with Swift.

The "relationship" (not relationship) even has coach Tony Vitello's attention after Swift's rumored breakup with Matty Healy.

“He’s dating Taylor Swift apparently, saw something about that on the (team) GroupMe (chat),” Vitello said. "Sometimes when they get going on the GroupMe and it's not that important, I don't pay attention.”

On Monday, a Tennessee fan's tongue-in-cheek tweet about Denton and the world-renowned singer gained traction, bringing more attention to the playful rumor.

Vitello spoke highly about the infielder and his road to success after what was a shaky start after transferring from Alabama.

“Zane had quite an interesting path to get here," Vitello said. "When he got here, just so much adversity and different things that didn't allow him to get into a rhythm on this campus and right now I think he's in as good of a rhythm as possible."

This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Tennessee baseball's Zane Denton dating Taylor Swift? Here's the story