Tennessee baseball began a new era over the weekend, sweeping Nicholls in a three-game series at Lindsey Nelson Stadium. The Vols outscored Nicholls 27-3 over the weekend with a pair of run-rule wins to get the Josh Elander era started.
Here’s five thoughts on the Tennessee baseball team from the opening weekend with a bonus thought on the stadium renovations.
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Blaine Brown Introduces Himself
Rice transfer Blaine Brown really impressed during fall practice. Then it was noteworthy when Josh Elander mentioned him hitting home runs in his introductory press conference. Brown showed us why he garnered so much hype during the opening weekend of the season.
The lanky lefty went eight-for-14 at the plate with a double three home runs, five RBIs and a walk. His three home runs came in a four at-bat stretch Saturday as he consistently crushed the ball.
We predicted Brown to lead Tennessee in home runs this season and said he’s one of the players we’re most confident in entering the season. He showed why there’s so much hype surrounding him.
Tyler Myatt Makes The Most Of His Opportunities
Walters State transfer Tyler Myatt is a fringe starter on this Tennessee team. He got his first opportunity with a pinch hit at-bat on Friday night. The left-handed hitter promptly hit the ball 108 mph over the right field wall.
His second at-bat? A hard hit double off the wall in left-center field. Myatt started once and totaled five plate appearances over the weekend. He went two-for-four with a walk.
The real test will come when Myatt faces high level pitching, but he made the most of his opportunities the opening weekend of the series.
Starting Pitchers Take Care Of Business
Tennessee gave his starting pitchers a little more leeway than Tony Vitello usually did early in the season which gave us a longer look at them. Tegan Kuhns, Landon Mack and Evan Blanco combined to allow one run 18.2 innings pitched.
Kuhns was the most effective, allowing just three total baserunners. Mack allowed the lone run but totaled nine strikeouts with an impressive ability to throw multiple off-speed pitches for strikes. Blanco faced more trouble then the rest, but worked around it and did not allow a run in five innings pitched.
It was business as usual, but Tennessee’s three starting pitchers all went out there and got the job done.
A Bullpen Pecking Order Emerges
In our pitching preview we listed six bullpen arms that we believed were at the top of the pecking order entering the season: Brandon Arvidson, Bo Rhudy, Cameron Appenzeller, Brayden Krenzel, Mark Hindy and Brady Frederick
Arvidson didn’t throw this weekend due to injury. Tennessee used five pitchers out of its bullpen: Rhudy, Appenzeller, Krenzel, Frederic and Nic Abraham.
Abraham is one of four returning pitchers from last season’s team, and finished the preseason extremely strong. He doesn’t have overpowering stuff but got the first crack at things this weekend and made the most of his opportunity.
Rhudy got the “closer” opportunity in the ninth inning of a four-run game, retiring the side in order with two strikeouts. The freshman Appenzeller looked dominant in his two innings pitched, totaling four strikeouts while retiring the side in order. Frederick was the only one that struggled, allowing two runs in his one inning pitched.
Lineup Did Not Show A Ton Of Depth
One of my biggest questions for this team was if a second batch of players behind its top trio would emerge as reliable hitters. Extremely small sample size but Tennessee didn’t qualm my concerns.
Reese Chapman had a great weekend. But Chris Newstrom, Jay Abernathy and Ariel Antigua combined for just three hits. In fairness, they did walk seven times. So I am far from hitting the panic button on any one player, this group or the lineup as a whole.
But this is something I am continuing to monitor as non conference play continues.
Bonus
Major credit to Danny White, Alicia Longworth, Tony Vitello and everyone who is responsible for making the new Lindsey Nelson Stadium what it is. There’s still some more fine tuning for them to do but it is a beautiful ballpark and nearly unnoticeable to the ballpark I first laid eyes on eight years ago.
The media area is a major upgrade. The club level is awesome and there remains no bad views in the ballpark. More bathrooms and concession stands along with wider concourses are also major upgrades for fans.
It was also very fortunate that the weather was so nice, encouraging so many fans to come see all the renovations.
