In Tennessee baseball’s 4-2 walk-off win over USC Upstate on Tuesday evening, the Vols were without one of their key pieces in the order. Third baseman Henry Ford missed the game due to illness.
After the game, Tennessee’s first-year head coach Josh Elander gave an update on the status of the Virginia transfer.
“Henry, for guys especially with the talent of Henry, we’d love to have them in the lineup every day,” Elander said. “That guy is going to play baseball for a long time. A little bit under the weather. We just wanted to play it safe just like we did last week and we were texting before the game and he seemed to be in good spirits and all that. Just keeping the kid’s best interests in mind long term. All good with him tonight. I’ll call him as soon as we leave here and check and see how he’s doing and get with Woody and those guys. But don’t really see any big concerns long term with that.”
The Vols will look to get Ford back with a critical series this weekend. Tennessee heads to Nashville for three games against Vanderbilt, each on national television. Friday is set for 8 p.m. ET on ESPNU. Saturday is at 2 p.m. ET on SEC Network. Sunday is at noon ET on ESPN2.
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On the season, Ford has posted a .344 batting average. In 23 games and starts, he has mashed eight home runs for 25 RBI and 20 runs in a total of 33 hits.
This is Ford’s first season with Tennessee after beginning his career at Virginia. He transferred in under Tony Vitello, but stayed through the coaching change to Elander after Vitello took the job as the manager of the San Francisco Giants in the MLB.
Ford himself is an MLB draft prospect who is expected to be a top pick in this upcoming class. MLB Pipeline has Ford as the No. 58 overall prospect in the cycle, but he could climb up the list with a string of strong showings throughout the SEC calendar.
Ford, initially from Charlottesville, Virginia, began his career at UVA. With the Hoos, Ford was named to the All-ACC Second Team in 2025 and was a Freshman All-American in 2024. He entered the portal after his head coach, Brian O’Connor, left for Mississippi State.
