Tennessee baseball picked up two much needed wins this weekend in the Amegy Bank College Baseball Series, defeating Arizona State and Virginia Tech following its weekend-opening Ioss against No. 1 UCLA. It was a nice bounce back for the Vols following their a series loss against Kent State the week before.
Here’s five quick takeaways from Tennessee’s weekend in Arlington.
Tennessee Badly Needed Those Two Wins
It’s overly dramatic to call any games this early in the season “must win” but after a series loss against Kent State and a blowout loss against UCLA to open the weekend, Tennessee badly needed to pick up victories over Arizona State and Virginia Tech to steady the ship.
Josh Elander’s first Tennessee team showed that they can play sound baseball and, at least briefly, turned off the alarm bells.
With six home games before SEC play begins, Tennessee has an opportunity to go on a winning streak and enter conference play at 14-3 which would not be a bad spot at all.
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That’s How It’s Going To Need To Look
Tennessee didn’t hit the cover off the ball or all of a sudden look like a national championship contender in Texas. They picked up two wins by playing clean defense, pitching well and getting some timely hits plus a few big innings.
The Vols committed three errors in their loss against UCLA to begin the weekend. But they committed just one error over the next two days and caught two runners stealing— including a crucial strike ’em out, throw ’em out double play late in the Arizona State game.
Tennessee’s pitching was strong. UCLA punished a few Tegan Kuhns mistakes while Brandon Arvidson and some fringe Volunteer bullpen arms struggled. But most of the Vols’ pitching staff impressed. Good starts from Landon Mack and Evan Blanco. Effective relief outings from Brady Frederick, Mark Hindy, Brayden Krenzel and Cameron Appenzeller.
That’s how it’s going to have to be for this team. They showed they can do it against solid competition.
Tennessee’s Lineup Is Starting To Become Clear
Elander tinkered with his lineup for much of the first two weekends of the season. In Texas, that lineup started to come into picture. The Vols mixed up who started at what position and changed the batting order game-to-game, but 10 players started over the course of the weekend.
Chris Newstrom settled in at second base the first two games and started all three. Tyler Myatt was the Vols’ designated hitter or starting left fielder in all three games. The only change came against Virginia Tech when Levi Clark caught, Newstrom slid to first base and Ariel Antigua started at second base.
We’ll see if Blake Grimmer or Garrett Wright can change the narrative as they get healthier and some more opportunities. But Elander showed us the nine the trusts most at this point in the season.
Chris Newstrom Flashes And Levi Clark Hits The Ball Hard
Sophomore Chris Newstrom was just three-for-18 at the plate this season before going three-for-four in the opener against UCLA, hitting Tennessee’s only home run of the weekend. He slowed down the rest of the weekend but did add one more hit.
Newstrom felt close to falling out of the starting lineup entering the weekend, but after totaling three extra-base hits on the weekend, the versatile sophomore seems to be on firmer footing.
If you’ve been reading this every week then you’ll know that I am a big Levi Clark believer. It was not a breakout weekend for Clark, going two-for-12 at the plate. But he had a RBI double against Virginia Tech and a sac fly against Arizona State.
Clark hit the ball hard all weekend, including two fly outs that would have been home runs at Lindsey Nelson Stadium, and struck out just once. The process was much better this weekend. He feels on the verge of breaking out of this early season slump.
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One Key Bullpen Pitcher Did Not Throw
Kennesaw State transfer Bo Rhudy was one of Tennessee’s best pitchers in the fall. He projected as one of the Vols’ top bullpen arms entering the season and earned the first save opportunity, blowing it in game one of the Kent State series.
Rhudy bounced back with a solid outing in game three against Kent State, but did not throw over the weekend in Texas. The right-handed pitcher did warm up but never ended up throwing. A notable and surprising development.
The transfer will almost certainly throw this week, likely multiple times, with five games in six days. I’m curious to see how he fares.
