With Tennessee baseball’s season on the line Saturday against VCU in game three of the Chapel Hill Regional, starter Tegan Kuhns threw 70 pitches in four innings.
Kuhns finished the fourth inning after an extended mound visit from pitching coach Josh Reynolds that ultimately included trainer Jeff Wood “Woody” and head coach Josh Elander. Kuhns was visibly experiencing discomfort and kept asking for water, suggesting the Vols’ ace was dehydrated.
After the game, Elander shed light on a sickness that has been ailing Kuhns the past couple of days, leading to a shorter outing that Kuhns had to battle through.
“Tegan, he’s a warrior, he’s a winner,” Elander said. “He’s going to pitch in the big leagues for a long time. Whoever’s lucky enough to get him with their first pick is going to be very lucky. It’s a guy who’s been sick the last two or three days.
“He’s running back and forth. You guys can guess where in between innings. (He was) trying to put himself in a good spot. Hydrating. Gave us everything he had, and (I’m) just proud of how he competed today because he gave us everything.”
The broadcast showed Kuhns running back to a room behind the dugout multiple times throughout the day, as it seems the sophomore was physically getting sick in between innings.
The heat in Chapel Hill certainly didn’t help matters, but Kuhns was able to get 12 outs for Tennessee before Brady Frederick pitched the fifth.
Tennessee wanted Kuhns to go deeper before giving way to a more reliable bullpen arm such as Cam Appenzeller, which is why Frederick served as the bridge guy in the fifth.
More From RTI: Josh Elander Explains Questionable Pitching Decision In Tennessee Baseball’s Loss Against VCU
But after Kuhns gutted through the fourth, his day was done. Elander described Kuhns’ situation as a ‘curveball,’ as the initial plan was to have him throw 80-90 pitches.
“Tegan was a curveball,” Elander said. “We were gonna see what we kind of got. Then all of a sudden, it’s his best interest I think physically — it was a curveball. We thought we were going to be able to get 80, 90 pitches out of Tegan. We weren’t able to get there.”
Kuhns was great to begin his outing, working around a walk and error in the first before striking out the side in order in the second.
The Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, native gave up a homer to open the third before working around a pair of singles. A great Garrett Wright throw ended the inning and preserved Tennessee’s then one-run lead.
In the fourth, a leadoff double, hit by pitch and balk followed the extended mound visit to put a pair in scoring position with nobody out for VCU. An RBI groundout and sac fly plated a pair before Kuhns got a groundout to end the frame.
Ultimately, it was the final batter he faced.
Tennessee was behind the eight ball after using five pitchers in a 14-inning loss to ECU Friday. It needed a strong, preferably longer, Kuhns outing to preserve as much pitching as it could for the remainder of the regional.
But more importantly, it needed Kuhns in some fashion. Without Kuhns, Tennessee would’ve likely had even more trouble against VCU. Kuhns gutted through four innings with a bad illness and allowed just three runs, giving Tennessee a chance to win.
However, the Vols’ offense struggled mightily with situational hitting for the second straight day and Frederick allowed two runs in relief, leading to a narrow defeat.
Kuhns was Tennessee’s best pitcher in 2026, finishing with a 5-5 record, 3.56 ERA and 1.19 WHIP while striking out a team-high 106 batters and walking just 16. Kuhns is a draft-eligible sophomore and could be a first-round pick in July’s MLB draft.
RECAP: Tennessee Baseball’s Season Ends In Loss Against VCU
Kuhns’ two-year Tennessee career will be remembered most by his stellar start against Texas on May 8. Kuhns struck out a career-best 15 batters in 7.0 shutout innings.
The outing is one of the best from a Tennessee pitcher in program history and will be talked about for some time.
