Tennessee baseball bounced back.
After losing its first nonconference series to Kent State, the Vols responded in their first big test of the season. Tennessee put together a 2-1 weekend at the Amegy College Baseball Series in Arlington, Texas, against some of the nation’s top teams, cleaning up some fundamental kinks that have plagued them in the early portions of the young season.
The Vols saw key improvement from their bullpen and got the big hits that they needed too, a pair of critical aspects of their game that fell below the standard of head coach Josh Elander’s program during a tough weekend against the Golden Flashes.
This weekend though, the positives outweigh the negatives.
“We’re learning more,” Elander said. “I think. We got to play some close ball games. That’s what we want, good competition. These guys get to play in a major league stadium. Sometimes you throw them out there, you can see them a little bit of deer in the headlights. So, let’s get that out of the way. Get the guys out there and have them play ball. So, we definitely got better.”
In the opening game of the three-game set at Globe Life Field, Tennessee continued its bad habits. The Vols committed three errors — all of which led to runs — in a 12-5 defeat to top-ranked UCLA. Tennessee bats struggled once again to come through with men of the basepaths, going 3-for-17 win runners aboard.
The Vols showed some prowess at the plate with a four-run sixth inning, but on a night where all but one of Tennessee’s five pitchers allowed an earned run, that wouldn’t be enough to make it a game. Chris Newstrom notched three hits, adding his first bomb of the season in the process, but that would be one of the Vols’ only bright spots.
Starting arm Tegan Kuhns started strong against the Bruins, but ultimately allowed three home runs despite posting a career-high 10 strikeouts.
“We feel great about those guys, regardless of who the matchup is,” Elander said. “You want toughness, stuff, but those guys have some grit, and they’re going to attack the strike zone with good stuff. Again, I know (Kuhns) got tagged a few times, but I thought he threw the ball as well as he has, threw some good sliders.”
The middle game at the home of the Texas Rangers displayed better. The top of Tennessee’s order and the back end of its bullpen delivered in a 5-3 defeat of a red-hot Arizona State team.
Jay Abernathy continued to excel in the leadoff spot, drawing a pair of walks to set the table for some important guys behind him. It wouldn’t be hard for one of them in Blaine Brown to make an improvement following his hitless second weekend in a Vols’ uniform. He picked up a pair of knocks while driving in a run, reaching base in three at-bats.
Fellow power bat Henry Ford brought home a run on a multi-hit afternoon, cleaning up his defense at third base after a tough outing against UCLA.
“I feel comfortable there,” Ford said. “I feel like the more reps, obviously the better I get. I just made a couple throws that, if they’re a foot longer, it’s an out. Feel really good over there. It’s baseball. Stuff happens.
“I’m a bigger guy, so staying low and different arm motion than the outfield, so getting that consistent. It’s really a short amount of steps when you’re over there, it’s not like shortstop which I’ve actually played a lot more of.”
After tossing just an inning in Tennessee’s midweek bout with Bellarmine, freshman left-hander Cam Appenzeller handled some of the first leverage situations of his college career. Elander’s plan to use the Chatham, Illinois, native in a different role than he did against Kent State paid off in a big way.
Appenzeller came on to earn his first save in his fourth appearance of the campaign, hurling two stanzas of scoreless ball. He punched out a trio of Sun Devils to help his guys lock down a two-run cushion.
The Vols’ fine work on the hill continued into their final matchup of the set.
Evan Blanco took the ball, helping Tennessee down Virginia Tech 3-1. The veteran southpaw delivered, holding the Hokies to just a run over his 5.1 innings. He allowed only two hits but didn’t qualify for the win, so the Vols would once again have to lean on their bullpen to get some big outs.
Mark Hindy emerged as Elander’s first option, stranding two men on base after inheriting them from his starter. He got the two outs he needed consecutively to escape the slight jam.
“Out of the bullpen, the approach is always get the job done,” Hindy said. “I’m here to do a very specific thing, and that’s to clean up things that could be going a little awry. Getting in there, getting those outs and getting us back to the plate and ready to hit was my only thought.”
That would be all for the Duke import, and his bats held up the end of the bargain, taking the lead in the bottom of the frame. Hindy would earn the win, but not without one of last season’s breakout freshmen securing things in the clutch.
Right-hander Brayden Krenzel shined, striking out four hitters over the final three innings for a nine-out save. Only two of the last 10 Virginia Tech batters would find their way on base, both coming in the seventh inning. Krenzel promptly shut things down, retiring the next seven men in order to cap an important weekend.
“It was electric,” Elander said. “I mean, the fastball is up to 97 (mph), pitching in the bottom quadrants of the zone, running some up late change was good, sliders as good as I’ve seen him throw.
“And there was really no decision to be made as well as he was throwing the ball. He was going back out there in the ninth no matter what, and got it done.”
