ARLINGTON, Tex. — Tennessee baseball suffered a 12-5 loss to UCLA Friday, its third in the last four games.
Common, negative trends have arisen in the Vols’ trio of losses: inconsistent offense, unreliable defense and lack of command from bullpen arms.
All three reared their head in Arlington, Texas, as the Vols dropped their first of a three-game stretch as part of the Amegy Bank College Baseball Series.
Tennessee has committed two or more errors in all three losses this season. Third baseman Henry Ford has been responsible for three, with two coming against UCLA.
Both of Ford’s errors against the Bruins led to runs. Short-arming a throw to first with two outs in the second proved costly as the next batter scored the runner with a double.
Missing short and right on a throw to first in the fifth proved costly as the leadoff runner scored thanks to a sac bunt, passed ball and sac fly.
RECAP: Tennessee Baseball Surrenders Five Home Runs in Loss Against UCLA
Last Saturday, a fifth-inning fielding error directly led to Kent State scoring two runs, all the Golden Flashes needed in a 2-1 victory in Knoxville.
Ford’s defense is not the main culprit in Tennessee’s losses. The Vols’ offense has lacked a pulse in several innings across the three defeats.
And outside of a few performances, the majority of the Vols’ bullpen outings have been subpar. Tennessee relievers have combined to hit eight batters and walk seven in the last two games.
But the defense, specifically a few plays from Ford, has led to runs on the scoreboard from the opposition. And with an offense that is largely performing below average currently? It’s not a recipe for success.
Tennessee baseball head coach Josh Elander shared if he’d consider any defensive changes this early in the year, particularly at third base.
“We’re so early in the year,” Elander said. “We’ve talked about, we just need to play as much as we can, get these guys some reps under their belt. I know Henry (Ford) is an older player, but that’s a completely new position.
“He shows well during the week, he’s done a great job with Kiv (Ross Kivett) with his footwork and playing catch. So, a couple of events here and there, I think he just gets right back to work and we’ll run it back out there again.”
TRANSCRIPT: Everything Tennessee Baseball HC Josh Elander Said After Loss to UCLA
To Elander’s point, Ford had looked natural and even made a handful of difficult plays look easy at the hot corner in Tennessee’s first five games.
In the series opener against Kent State – in a one-out, bases-loaded, ninth-inning situation with the game tied – Ford beautifully fielded a pair of ground balls to keep the score knotted at three runs apiece.
It was a positive development for Tennessee, given Ford’s lack of experience at third. But since his fifth-inning mistake in game two against Kent State, he’s struggled defensively, and Elander acknowledges that.
“Yeah I think they’re plays that have to be made,” Elander said of Ford’s miscues Friday. “And I think he knows he has to make those plays, and we need to do it… Those are routine plays that need to be made, and I believe he will [make them] moving forward.”
Elander also recognizes it is early in the season and that players deserve ample time to prove their abilities. Take Chris Newstrom, for example, who had a career day against UCLA after entering the day hitting .167 on the season.
“You want to give guys a chance to prove what they can do,” Elander said. “I think (Chris) Newstrom was a good example of that tonight… When you don’t win, you have to look at everything, from decisions made with the pitching side or who goes where.
“We have options, but we want to give those guys a chance and give them some runway to have a good enough sample size and make sure we’re making the best decisions to put them in a position to have success.”
Simply, Tennessee must play cleaner baseball to compete with teams like UCLA. The Vols don’t have the overwhelming firepower offensively to overcome walks, hit-by-pitches and errors.
“When you don’t compete over the white, and you walk guys, hit by pitches, free 90s all over the place – I think we had eight-plus after Tegan came out of the game – that’s never going to be a recipe for success.”
