Tennessee baseball found Opening Day success in its debut under head coach Josh Elander.
Tyler Myatt and Stone Lawless went for back-to-back home runs in the bottom of the eighth inning against Nicholls State in a 10-0 walk-off, run-rule win against the Colonels.
Tennessee (1-0) posted three home runs in the win, totaling 11 hits. On the mound, the Vols used just two arms in a two-hitter.
The first run of the season came in the first inning. Reese Chapman smashed a double down the right-field line to bring Blaine Brown around from first base.
Henry Ford earned the first blast of the year with a fourth-inning bomb to dead center. With a 36.6-degree exit angle, Ford sent the ball 406 feet over the batter’s eye for a two-run home run. Myatt and Lawless added late-game blasts to cap Tennessee’s run-rule win.
Strong season debut for the ace
Tegan Kuhns’ sophomore leap opened with a strong outing.
The 6-foot-3, 189-pound right-hander posted 6.2 innings of two-hit baseball. He allowed three total baserunners — just one into scoring position — eight strikeouts, seven groundouts and five flyouts.
The first two outs of the season came via swinging strikeouts on 97-mph fastballs. Kuhns closed the inning on a shallow popout — the only pitch of the frame where contact was made.
Kuhns held a blemish-free outing through 2.2 innings. When Karson Irvin took the plate with two outs in the third inning, he smacked a single past the diving glove of Henry Ford at third. Kuhns answered with a fourth strikeout to strand the runner and end the inning.
Nicholls State threatened Kuhns in the fifth inning. Eight-hole hitter Clayton Pourciau walked on four consecutive pitches and advanced into scoring position on a passed ball. Kuhns’ command weakened, and he dished out three straight balls to the nine-hole hitter.
Kuhns battled back with three straight strikes to end the inning on his sixth strikeout.
Elander elected to send his ace back to the mound for the seventh inning, and he kept the line clean with a flyout and a looking strikeout before the end of the line. Nic Abraham emerged from the bullpen, and Kuhns’ season debut concluded at 86 pitches.
Reese Chapman’s experience shines
Tennessee’s most experienced player showed that he’s seen all kinds of pitching in his now fourth year of college baseball.
Chapman posted a 2-for-2 day at the plate, driving in two runs and touching the plate once himself.
His first two at-bats resulted in RBI doubles. After Brown recorded the first hit of the season, Chapman followed with a double down the line to plate the first run of 2026. The next time he stepped in the box, Chapman smoked a 111-mph double midway up the right-center field wall to score Ford.
Chapman took first base on catcher’s interference calls in his third and fourth at-bats to reach successfully in his first four chances.
He was not afforded the opportunity for a fifth at-bat. Myatt pinch hit for the senior in the eighth inning and smoked the ball over the fence.
Newcomers settle in
Josh Elander’s first lineup card of his head coaching tenure featured two newcomers — and the two made up Tennessee’s one-two punch at the top.
Ford and Brown manned the one and two-hole on Wednesday, and both gave sizable contributions. They combined to hit 4-for-9, with four RBIs. Alongside Chapman, the three hitters were the only ones to record multiple hits.
Brown served at the Vols’ designated hitter, while Ford played third base. Ford converted all three assist opportunities he was presented.
Tennessee is back for the second game of the series against the Colonels on Saturday, Feb. 14, for a 1 p.m. ET first pitch.
