The first conference series with Josh Elander at the helm yielded mixed results.
Tennessee baseball dropped its first SEC series, losing the last two decisions at Foley Field against Georgia. It looked like the Vols would be heading home with a series win after taking an early 5-0 lead in the finale, but a seventh-inning collapse crushed their aspirations.
“I thought our guys competed really well,” Elander said. “Had a chance to put away the game in the fourth, and we didn’t do that.”
It became a weekend of ups and downs for Tennessee. Henry Ford’s go-ahead solo shot proved decisive in the opener, but things would trend downwards from there. The low would emerge in Stone Lawless’ heartbreak, the pinch hitter thinking he had stroked a go-ahead homer in the ninth inning in the rubber game, only to be robbed at the wall by outfielder Cole Johnson to kill his hopes.
The offense continued its momentum from its midweek explosion against Tennessee Tech, coming up with a total of 16 runs on 27 hits during the three-game set. Still, the bats left plenty of meat on the bone, stranding 17 runners across the last two games of the series.
Ford pulled his weight, though, coming through in some of these leverage spots with big swings. The Virginia native homered twice during the weekend and drove in five runs. His first long ball made up the difference in his team’s only victory.
“Got down 0-2 early, and at that point, you’re just trying to scrap,” Ford said. “Just compete and come through for your guys on the bench, so fortunate enough to get a good pitch to hit and put a good swing on it.”
Manny Marin swung a hot stick and continued his streak of multi-hit efforts, stretching the mark to five consecutive games. Against Georgia, the sophomore shortstop drove in five runs on six hits and raised his season batting average to .367, good enough for the top spot on the squad.
“Manny’s playing to win,” Elander said. “That’s what we want, and that’s what the expectation is here. Him just going out and competing and doing things at a high level is a good sign, but we need some others to join him right there with that.”
Among the players who had been struggling at the plate, Levi Clark found himself inserted into the lineup on the series finale after sitting out the first two games. It’s been a season-long struggle for the sophomore, who entered the game hitting just .135 after being named to the Preseason All-SEC Second Team. The Georgia native came up with two hits and two walks on the afternoon across his five plate appearances.
“It’s just nice to see him just playing baseball,” Elander said. “He’s a really good baseball player, and he’s been tremendous behind the dish. It’s good to see him put a few swings together and hopefully that’s a sign for what’s to come here.”
Pitching-wise, Tennessee got good contributions from most of the guys it sent out. The rotation held its own against the top run-producing offense in the league, and the bullpen received stellar outings from a southpaw like Brandon Arvidson, who proved a vital factor in the Vols’ lone win.
“I just looked around and smiled,” Arvidson said. “It’s such a blessing to be here. This opportunity, it’s so amazing. People like to say it’s life and death, it’s very important, and I take it very serious, but also it’s not life and death. You just look around and enjoy it, and just compete.”
The sore spot of the weekend came in the series decider. The rookie skipper relied on Brayden Krenzel to work out of a self-inflicted mess, but the Bulldogs knocked him around for five runs in the seventh inning, turning a Tennessee three-run lead into a two-run deficit.
“Krenzel’s been our guy all year,” Elander said. “He’s pitched in the league. Have a ton of confidence with him, and regardless of the conditions, I know he was spraying it a little bit at times. I thought he was still really competing. We liked the match-up there and hats off to the righty.”
