Sophomore outfielder Blaine Brown was hitting just .189 in SEC play entering Tennessee’s weekend series against Alabama at Lindsey Nelson Stadium. With cries for Josh Elander to remove Brown from the lineup, the first year head coach held steady and wrote Brown’s name in the lineup every day.
Brown rewarded Elander’s confidence in him, hitting six-for-12 at the plate with a walk, two home runs and a double in the Vols’ series victory over Alabama.
“I mean, maybe it’s a fault,” Elander said. “We’ll see. But loyalty is a big thing. It always has been in this building and belief in the guys. And again, he’s a guy I believe in. There’s a lot of guys I believe in in that lineup. And it’s good to see him have some success and the credit all goes to them. But I’m a big believer, working with the hitters for a long time, you’re always one swing away from getting real hot.”
Brown was hitless last weekend against Ole Miss and struggling to find any rhythm. He was pulling the baseball at an extremely high clip and chasing pitches out of the zone leading to high strikeout and weak contact numbers.
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But Brown watched film with coaches, got in the cage and worked on things throughout the week. The Rice transfer’s biggest swing of the weekend best showed his improvement. With Tennessee tied 3-3 in the sixth inning of the series finale, Brown shot a two-run homer 368-feet the other way off of top left-handed Alabama reliever Ashton Crowther.
“Just been slowing everything down,” Brown said. “That’s the biggest thing. Just been slowing the game down and letting it come to me.
“Just keep going each day at a time. Keep putting your head down and working. The pages will flip and you just have to keep going and take it one day at a time.”
Another one for all the haters, of which there were many. 😂
📺 https://t.co/G0mKtEEq7g#GBO🍊 // #OTH pic.twitter.com/ojvqsYnP1a
— Tennessee Baseball (@Vol_Baseball) April 25, 2026
Brown followed up the sixth inning opposite field homer with a seventh inning pulled homer into the Tennessee bullpen in right field. It was stellar performance in a breakout weekend that Brown badly needed. It was obvious postgame how much Elander’s confidence meant to Brown.
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“That just gives me all the belief in myself,” Brown said. “I know if he’s able to believe in me even when I’m down, I know I can believe in myself even in those situations. So just having that belief in myself, him putting me in there and keep on putting me in there and just keep having that belief that I know I can do it.”
Brown is an extremely talented hitter who can change Tennessee’s lineup as much as anyone when he’s at his best. The Vols are looking for this weekend to be the start of a new trend and not a fluke.
“We like that Blaine,” Elander said. “We’d like to see some more of him. But I think just credit to our staff and him getting to a good spot mentally and sticking with him too. … When he plays with confidence and excitement and he’s not quiet, he’s pretty special. So we’re going to need more of that, but great day for Blaine.”
