The good and the bad of Tennessee baseball Through Two Weeks
KNOXVILLE – The college baseball season is a marathon. It’s impossible to judge a team just two weeks into the 56-game season. However, everyone knew that Tennessee Baseball and head coach Josh Elander would be viewed through a microscope to start the year after Tony Vitello left last Fall.
It might be too early to assess this team fully, but now they’ve had the chance to play an expected NCAA tournament squad in Kent State University, and failed to win the series at Lindsey Nelson Stadium. The Vols lost two of three, with the one win coming in walk-off fashion, to the Golden Flashes in an error-filled weekend that has fans worried for the future right out of the gate. Tennessee also beat Bellermine University on Tuesday, 8-3, but left it late as it was 1-0 until a 7-run 7th inning.
Midweek dub! #OTH // #GBO pic.twitter.com/Vfm0yCdDsE
— Tennessee Baseball (@Vol_Baseball) February 25, 2026
So, while admittedly it may be too early for judgment, does Josh Elander have problems with this squad?
Tennessee had a rough weekend in all three phases of the game. Offensively, they had a .304 on-base percentage during the series, including two games where the lineup hit under .250. Defensively, fielders committed a combined 5 errors in the two loses and pitchers hit 10 batters and had 2 wild pitches in the series. All that to say, very little went right.
“What remains true is the fundamentals of the game are the absolutes,” Elander said. “Like, if you don't play catch and do the little things right, you can get beat any day. So, a good reminder for our guys. It's a very talented roster we have. We need to play better, but nobody's invincible."
The biggest bright spot has been the starting pitching. The weekend arms of sophomore Tegan Kuhns, sophomore Landon Mack, and senior Evan Blanco have a combined 1.32 ERA, 49 strikeouts, and 14 walks in 34 innings. Kuhns has been the most dominant in two starts with a 0.73 ERA, 12 strikeouts, and a .57 WHIP. For a two-series sample size, that’s as good as you can expect.
The weekday starter has been two-way sophomore Blaine Brown for the first two Tuesday games, and he’s looked dominant. It's only two innings of work, but Brown has 5 strikeouts to 1 hit and 1 walk. It's not time for a decision now, but Elander may look to extend his innings or even move him to the weekend if he keeps up this level of pitching.
At the plate, Brown has been a little more inconsistent. The first weekend, he starred with 8 hits in 14 at-bats with 2 HRs, 5 RBIs, and 1 walk against Nicholls State University. Against Kent State, Brown cooled off and went 0-10 with 1 walk and a sac-fly. The bipolar performances have Vols fans questioning what exactly his potential is.
Brown’s offensive erraticness fits in with what the lineup has done as a whole so far. Against Kent State, Tennessee left 20 total runners on base. Real trouble has come from the back of the lineup, including junior Ariel Antigua, sophomore Levi Clark, and sophomore Chris Newstrom, who have a combined .375 on-base percentage in all eight games. Backup may be coming as transfer junior Garrett Wright is yet to return, and sophomore Manny Marin just returned against the Golden Flashes and was 4 -16 with a home run.
“Early in the year, sometimes guys are maybe looking at that scoreboard a little bit too much to see what (their) batting average may be or whatever,” Elander said. “So we just got to get them locked back into hunting some quality at-bats, (saying) ‘What is the task and how do I execute?’ Because one through nine, there's guys that have done it at a high level for a long time, and I've still got a lot of confidence they will moving forward."
The back end may be struggling, but some of the headliners have been as good as advertised for the most part. Junior Henry Ford, sophomore Jay Abernathy, redshirt sophomore Stone Lawless, and senior Reece Chapman all have OPSs over 1.000, and redshirt sophomore Tyler Myatt has broken out as a potential everyday starter.
Elander and Tennessee have a long way to go before anyone should be looking at the panic button, but there are early signs of concern. The offseason was unusual, to say the least; Kent State is a potential NCAA tournament team by most accounts, and Josh Elander is still in his first year as the skipper. Naturally, there will be bumps in the road.
However, with huge tests against UCLA, Arizona State, and Virginia Tech on the horizon, the Vols need to pick up some speed and show they are an Omaha-caliber ball club before conference play.
“Well, it's baseball, right?” Elander said after the Bellarmine win. “You're going to have a little bit of everything. I mean, in a perfect world, we'd score five, six every inning, but that's not how the game works… It's a young group offensively. They're very talented, but they need to be seasoned a little bit. The more reps we get, the better this team will get."