Tennessee baseball heads on the road this weekend, traveling 180 miles west on Interstate 40 to face rival Vanderbilt in a three-game series at Hawkins Field in Nashville. The instate rivalry has become the biggest for both teams in recent years as Tony Vitello elevated the Tennessee program to the same footing Tim Corbin got his Vanderbilt program two decades ago.
First year Tennessee head coach Josh Elander knows the rivalry as well as anybody spending the previous eight years as Vitello’s top assistant. And as the Vols ready for this weekend’s rivalry series, Elander plans on educating his team about the rivalry.
“Competition,” Elander said of what stands out about the rivalry. “A lot of good memories. I mean going back, but the last few they got us last year, so we’ll have a little history lesson with our guys tomorrow. It’s another Southeastern Conference series on the road. You got to go in and compete – that’s the key.”
Vanderbilt won the three-game series against Tennessee in Knoxville last season, ending a three-year stretch where the Vols had won the rivalry series. Emotions flared between the two teams after Vanderbilt clinched the series rubber match in Knoxville last season. The Commodores earned a third win over Tennessee, run-ruling the Vols in the SEC Tournament Semifinals in Hoover.
Before last season, Tennessee has dominated the series in recent memory. The Vols won the best of three series in Nashville in 2024 before splitting two games against them in the SEC Tournament.
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From 2022 into the 2024 season, Tennessee won nine straight games against the Commodores including series sweeps in both the 2022 and 2023 seasons. Vanderbilt won the series in 2021, when Tennessee surged onto the scene as a national contender, but it did include a legendary performance from Evan Russell in game two of the series.
“But I have some great memories of watching Evan Russell hit three home runs and guys kind of turning the page, and so I know our guys will be excited for what’s coming up this weekend in Nashville,” Elander said.
Tennessee owns the series lead 188-169-2 with the first matchup between the two teams taking place in 1897.
Both Tennessee and Vanderbilt have struggled at times early this season. The Vols enter the weekend series with a 18-7 (3-3 SEC) record. Tennessee dropped two of three games at Georgia the opening weekend of SEC play before winning two of three against Missouri last weekend.
Vanderbilt enters the weekend series 14-12 (2-4 SEC) after Mississippi State swept the Commodores in Starkville last week. The Commodores took two of three games against LSU in their SEC opening series.
First pitch for the weekend series between Tennessee and Vanderbilt is at 8 p.m. ET on Friday night. ESPNU is broadcasting the series opener while the SEC Network is broadcasting game two and ESPN2 is broadcasting the series finale.
