Not every Southeastern Conference team came away unscathed from the opening weekend of college baseball.
Georgia dropped a game to Wright State, Missouri lost once to Mount St. Mary’s and South Carolina lost a contest to Northern Kentucky.
For Tennessee and the debut of the Josh Elander era, it was smooth sailing as the No. 13 Volunteers swept Nicholls by the combined count of 27-3 inside Lindsey Nelson Stadium. Friday’s opening contest was called with the Vols up 10-0 after eight innings, while the second game of Saturday’s doubleader was 12-2 when it was halted after seven.
“I just like the way they stayed hooked up today,” Elander said Saturday night in a news conference. “I know we were going for a shutout there in the seventh, but guys were diving to do whatever they could to keep the ball in the infield. They stayed hooked up, and I told them that it’s not easy to win two games in one day, and I don’t care who you’re playing or when or where.
“It’s not easy to do in college baseball, so I’m proud of how they handled their business.”
(READ MORE: Brown leads No. 13 Vols to convincing sweep of Nicholls).
A stress-free opening weekend was just what Elander needed after a busy few months that followed being selected to replace Tony Vitello, who guided Tennessee to the 2024 national championship and to five consecutive NCAA tournament super regional appearances before becoming manager of Major League Baseball’s San Francisco Giants.
Nicholls is a Southland Conference program coming off a 17-32 season, so nobody was going to confuse the Colonels for LSU or UCLA any time soon, but the Vols repeatedly took care of business and apparently enjoyed doing it.
“We’ve got a lot of guys who want to have fun, a lot of guys who want to compete and a lot of guys who want to win,” sophomore pitcher and Rutgers transfer Landon Mack said Saturday. “It’s a party out there.”
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Mack started Saturday afternoon’s 5-1 triumph and was Tennessee’s only starter to allow a run. He combined with Friday starter Tegan Kuhns and Saturday second-game starter Evan Blanco, a Virginia transfer, for an eye-popping 26 strikeouts as all three worked deep enough to earn victories.
At the plate, senior right fielder Reese Chapman hit .600 with three doubles, junior third baseman Henry Ford hit .417 with two RBIs and five runs scored, and sophomore left fielder Blaine Brown hit .571 with three home runs, five RBIs and eight runs scored. Ford starred at Baylor School and played the past two seasons at Virginia, while Brown is a Rice transfer who led the Owls in batting average.
Chapman is in his fourth season in Knoxville, and he was not surprised by the seamless change of command.
“For people who aren’t on the inside of things, Josh is a compassionate person,” Chapman said Friday night. “He’s a players’ guy, and I think he led the transition smoothly because of who he is.
“We didn’t skip a beat. He wants to win as badly as V does, and we want to win. We’re just stoked to play under him now.”
The Vols will return to action Tuesday at 4, when they host UNC Asheville.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com.