The dawn of a new era is here as Tennessee baseball begins its 2026 season on Friday afternoon against Nicholls. For the first time, new head coach Josh Elander writes and turns in the lineup card.
Tennessee has just three returning starters from last season in Reese Chapman, Levi Clark and Manny Marin. Even with that group, Clark and Marin could very well end up playing different positions this season compared to last. The Vols added talented transfers including Virginia’s Henry Ford and Rice’s Blaine Brown over the offseason while catcher Stone Lawless won the catching competition over the weekend.
That leaves the middle infield and left field as two of the biggest positions up for grabs. The Vols’ positional versatility could lead to a multitude of players starting at third base.
Tennessee is also down two potential contributors this weekend as third baseman/left fielder Blake Grimmer deals with a back injury and catcher/outfielder Garrett Wright rehabs a wrist injury.
There has been an abundance of competition this offseason and that competition will continue throughout the first month of the season before action heats up in conference play. With that in mind, Tennessee could very well deploy three different lineups this weekend.
While the lineup Tennessee utilizes with on Opening Day will certainly be different then the one they use when SEC play begins, the game one lineup is still telling about who has had a good offseason and who Elander most trusts to begin his first season as head coach.
With that, here’s a look at the Vols’ Opening Day lineup.
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3B Henry Ford
DH Blaine Brown
1B Levi Clark
RF Reese Chapman
C Stone Lawless
SS Manny Marin
CF Jay Abernathy
2B Ariel Antigua
LF Chris Newstrom
SP: RHP Tegan Kuhns
