Tennessee baseball opened up the 2026 season with a 10-0 run-rule victory of Nicholls on Friday evening at Lindsey Nelson Stadium. The Vols didn’t score more than two runs in any inning but used steady production to reach double digits.
Following the game, Tennessee head coach Josh Elander discussed the emotions of his first win, Tegan Kuhns’ strong outing and much more. Here’s everything Elander said.
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On how he would assess sophomore RHP Tegan Kuhns’ first start
“About as good as it gets. I thought he did a good job attacking the strike zone. Just competitiveness. Had both breaking balls working, threw some good right-on-right changeups. So he really did a good job. He had the one walk in there, but had some 3-0 counts and kind of worked back and said, ‘here’s the heater, let’s see what you can do with it.’ He did a really good job for us tonight.”
On Tegan Kuhns not being fazed by going down 3-0 after his only walk
“Well, it’s big. I mean, again, especially to get two outs, you got one more to get, right? Sometimes guys will come off the gas a little bit. But credit to our infield, everybody in the dugout, behind him right there saying, ‘hey, let’s make sure we get this guy.’ So that’s a good sign going into the weeks to come.”
On how comfortable he was with Tegan Kuhns throwing 86 pitches in the start
“Yeah, we had him built up to about 85 pitches. So I’m in trouble because we went to 86 tonight. But no, just again, he’s a guy I love the way he was competing. I think sometimes you want to get those guys a clean inning their first time out. But just wanted to make sure Tegan, we’ve been very cautious with all of our guys, with the weather, but now it’s game time, so we want to get them as close to those pitch count numbers as we can.”
On what was going through his mind throughout the day before his first game as a head coach
“Well, the first thing I did walking in is I sent a video to all of the recruits, just saying, I can’t wait to go to battle with you guys next year and the years to come. It’s just such a cool place to walk into and I have so many memories. It was so nice. Like Andre Lipcius, Luc Lipcius, I just had guys from all over the years texting me this morning. So, very grateful for that, but also know that this means to a lot of people around here now. So it’s time to get to work, and I’m just proud about how our guys handled the game today. I mean, kept the ball in front and swung the bat well and attacked the strike zone. When we do that, we feel good about our chances.”
On how nice it is to just get back to baseball after the offseason the program had
“It was great. To be honest, that third-base box, I spent a lot of time over there over the years, so that’s kind of my comfort zone. But I just thought the vibes in the dugout were great from our players, the coaches, and just the way we’re communicating, really no tension or anything in there, and just kind of talking through some different scenarios. You always have kind of plan A and we had to adjust a little bit tonight, in a good way. But yeah, it was a good day.”
On how nice it was to get the first one out of the way and get back to business
“You just want to attack each day. We talk about that with the guys all the time. Like, I think it’s natural — like Tyler Johnson brought me the ball for the first win, but this is just another win for the Tennessee Volunteers. That’s how I look at it. Our guys have been very patient and also resilient as we’ve gotten through the fall to play another team and just to put together close to a complete game on both sides of the ball, is very exciting going into the rest of the weekend.”
On what it was like meeting with the team in the outfield after the game
“Well we talk about a ton, just being a great teammate around here. So Reese Chapman having a great day. And again, didn’t have a great fall. He really didn’t, but has a good day. And then he’s, hey, we’ll hand off the bat to Myatt, let him get his chance, and he makes the most of it, and he can really hit, as we know. So and then Stone there had some really good at-bats. They were mixing and matching with some off speed stuff, but spitting on some close pitches and then really leaning on one there at the end. So two guys that have done a ton of work behind the scenes, so that was good to see.”
On if this was as business as usual as an opener could be
“I think so. But again, it’s only one day, right? Again, I told the guys, sometimes Opening Day is a little bit tricky, just to be honest, to coach, some guys are a little bit hyper emotional. You have to calm them down a little bit. So the theme all week was like, hey, like, just don’t need to be anything crazy. Just slow down a little bit. Take a deep breath, focus on whatever your task is, and then execute. But I thought the guys settled in a little bit more as the game went on, which is good because they had us in between a little bit offensively earlier tonight.”
On how RHP Nic Abraham is different in his sophomore season
“I think (pitching coach Josh) Reyn(old) has just done an amazing job with him. Again, those two have really clicked from even last year to this year and just, I think there’s some similarities to how they pitch, again, when Reyn was a pitcher too, but he’s doing a good job of keeping those guys off balance. And it’s not wipe out stuff, but he’s attacking the strike zone. He’s got a little bit of moxie and savvy out there right now, and really changing speeds and pitching to all quadrants of the zone. And, I mean, he shoot out our top lineup last week for six innings. So got a lot of confidence on how he’s throwing the baseball right now.”
On how Ariel Antigua has improved as a hitter
“Just a ton. I think again, like he smokes the ball to left field tonight. But even the play he makes, you know, Kivitt has him a little bit deeper runs in makes that play on the run. That’s not an easy play. Just, he brings so much to the table. But to me tonight, again, he’s on the hunt on the bases. We talk about all the time, but infield back there’s an easy RBI. He doesn’t try to do too much, and just takes that RBI. I mean, that’s a sign of maturity and being a good teammate, and knowing what it takes to win and then making the decision to do it, right? So hopefully there’s more of that to come, but he’s played some great baseball, really, the last four or five months.”
On it being good to see Reese Chapman have a good day
“Yeah, it was great. I mean, he’s a guy I never lose any sleep about, right? I mean, we have our gold shirt club around here. That’s double digit homers and 50-plus RBIs. There’s some pretty cool names on that list. And he’s already put himself on that list forever, right? So got a lot of confidence with him. And again, just what he brings to table. He’s a seasoned bat, and he’s going to need to play a big role for us this year.”
On what he likes about the Ariel Antigua-Manny Marin infield combo
“I just think they got good mojo going. They communicate at a high level, and we’re moving them around a lot with shifts. We’ve really leaned into that with Zach Stovall and obviously Ross Kivett. [We] have complete faith in them, but you have to communicate if you’re going those bigger shifts, or moving from zero strikes to two strikes, or righties to lefties. So, those guys got a good thing going, and they can cover some ground, to say the least. I think they’re basically interchangeable. They can both play both, but two special defenders, for sure.”
On how it feels playing in a newly renovated stadium
“It’s great. It’s great. It’s just cool. I remember last year looking up, just kind of at the beams, just to kind of see it get a little bit better each day. And hats off to administration. What an amazing ballpark. And even just walking through the hallway back here, I remember when this was like a dirt walkway. When we were going through here, we would avoid this corner with recruits, but it’s a special place. Now, we have to do our part and make sure we’re doing our part on the field.”
On what he saw from Henry Ford
“He’s just a pro. I mean, he’s as gifted as it gets when it comes to just [a] prospect. Comes from an amazing family and just a great kid. Really, [he’s] just kind of leaned into the freedom and how we kind of navigate our offensive in here. Again, he’s got some similarities to Jordan Beck, just like makeup wise, I think, just kind of how he approaches at bats. He’s a thinker, but he can kind of be one step ahead at times. But again, giving him the freedom to kind of navigate. [I] just feel really good about Henry. He’s going to hit some balls that disappear like that a lot around here.”
On if Brandon Arvidson is available this weekend
“No. Arv threw yesterday, threw really, really well. We are going to be overly cautious with Arv. Really feel good about where he’s at. With him being a proven guy in our bullpen or also could start at any point for us, we are going to play it safe there this weekend.”
