No. 4 Texas matches up against Tennessee in Knoxville
For the primary time ever, the No. 4 Texas Longhorns and the Tennessee Volunteers are taking part in a regular-season sequence as convention opponents as head coach Jim Schlossnagle’s staff travels to Knoxville to play at Lindsey Nelson Stadium against first-year head coach Josh Elander and his Volunteers.
All 5 earlier video games in the all-time sequence between the 2 applications got here at impartial websites, together with a Texas win in the College World Series in 2021 and an SEC Tournament win for Tennessee final 12 months. The Horns and Vols have additionally met thrice in Houston.
The greater storyline? Schlossnalge dealing with off against his former participant and assistant, Elander. A Round Rock product, Elander signed with TCU over Texas A&M after a hotly-contested recruitment the Horned Frogs had been lucky to win as a Mountain West staff.
A catcher and left fielder in Fort Worth, Elander helped lead TCU to its first-ever berth in the College World Series as a freshman in 2010 and ultimately served as a staff captain earlier than turning into a sixth-round draft choose by the Atlanta Braves in the 2012 MLB Draft.
After Elander’s taking part in profession, he returned to TCU as a pupil assistant earlier than following Tony Vitello to Arkansas to work beneath Clay Van Horn. When Vitello took over in Tennessee, Elander joined his employees, the place he spent eight years as an assistant earlier than taking up this system when Vitello was employed because the supervisor of the San Francisco Giants.
Looking again, Schlossnagle is not stunned to see Elander grow to be a head coach as a result of he was all the time mature as a participant.
“He’s energetic, but not over emotional, so you could see him have the temperament to be a super successful at anything, but especially as a coach, and then he had a chance to go learn under Coach Van Horn, and then under Coach Vitello. So he’s well groomed and I’m sure he’s going to do great,” Schlossnagle mentioned.
Picked to complete sixth in the SEC in the preseason ballot, Tennessee returned some key contributors whereas making huge additions from the portal and the core of a recruiting class signed by Vitello. But navigating the nation’s hardest baseball convention is not straightforward and the Volunteers are tied for eleventh in the SEC with an 11-13 document, which places them solely two wins behind the three groups tied for sixth place. The margins are small.
And the Volunteers are additionally a harmful staff with a house sequence win over then-No. 13 Alabama and a highway sweep of then-No. 9Mississippi State.
At the plate, Tennessee’s energy prompted Schlossnagle to name them a “super physical team,” a trait that they’ve carried over from the Vitello period — the Vols have slugged 31 house runs during the last 10 video games, giving them 91 homers this season, tenth nationally, and placing them on tempo to surpass 100 for the fifth consecutive season, one thing no SEC program has ever completed.
In a 13-5 win over then-No. 25 Ole Miss final month, Tennessee hit a season-high six house runs and 4 gamers have 10 or extra house runs this season, led by star Virginia switch Henry Ford with 15. Ford is batting .305 with a team-high 49 RBI. First baseman Levi Clark, a preseason second-team All-SEC choice, has struggled many of the season, batting simply .221 total, however has been harmful in convention play, hitting .297 with seven house runs, together with two house runs in final Sunday’s win over Kentucky.
Tennessee will begin right-hander Tegan Kuhns (3-4, 3.46 ERA) on Friday, left-hander Evan Blanco (5-3, 4.36 ERA) on Saturday, and right-hander Evan Mack (4-4, 4.67 ERA) on Sunday.
A highly-rated 2025 MLB Draft prospect, Kuhns is without doubt one of the high draft-eligible sophomores with a mid-90s fastball and a plus curveball, however hasn’t been capable of finding a reliable third pitch. Last weekend against Kentucky, Kuhns gave up a season-high six earned runs on 10 hits as a result of the Wildcats had been capable of get to the 6’3, 195-pounder for 3 doubles and two house runs.
The Vols rank eighth in the SEC with a 4.41 employees ERA with opponents batting .235, backed up by a fielding share of .986 that’s tied for first nationally, on tempo to set this system document and a pointy enchancment over final season.
Tied for second place in the SEC with Texas A&M, Texas enters the weekend 2.5 video games behind first-place Georgia, though for NCAA Tournament seeding functions, the Longhorns are No. 3 in the RPI, effectively forward of the No. 16 Bulldogs. Only Florida has extra Quad 1 wins (15) than Texas (13).
“I think at this point the season, we know as much about our team as we’re going to know — not that we’re at our best spot yet, I think the teams are ever evolving — but we’ve proven we can go on the road and play well in tough environments and against good teams. So looking forward to getting to getting to Knoxville,” Schlossnagle mentioned.
The Horns are 7-6 total on the highway this season and 6-5 in convention play, together with sequence wins over the Gamecocks and Commodores.
The greatest query mark for Texas getting into the weekend is the well being of freshman left fielder Anthony Pack Jr., who solely made a late look in Tuesday’s win over UTSA on account of a wrist damage sustained lifting weights. Pack struck out in his solely plate look, wanting notably uncomfortable on his last swing.
“I just want him fully healthy for the weekend. So he should be fine,” Schlossnagle mentioned after the sport. “We did the imaging, and there’s nothing physically that anybody can find wrong with him.”
On Thursday, the Texas head coach mentioned that Pack most likely will not swing for one more day after receiving therapy on Wednesday, with the medical employees indicating that he’ll be fantastic.
First pitch on Friday is at 5:30 pm Central, adopted by a 6:30 pm Central first pitch on Saturday, and the sequence finale at midday Central. SEC Network+ airs the primary sport earlier than ESPN2 broadcasts the ultimate two video games of the sequence.
