KNOXVILLE — When Tennessee defeated Texas 14-9 on Saturday night to clinch the baseball series against the Longhorns, the key components of the Volunteers were quick to credit the supporters inside Lindsey Nelson Stadium.
All 7,194 of them — well, minus the couple dozen who were wearing burnt orange.
“It is an unbelievable difference when we play at home,” winning pitcher Evan Blanco said. “With these fans, it is electric here, and we really do thrive off of that environment.”
Added designated hitter Trent Grindlinger following his 4-for-5 performance: “Lindsey Nelson has been rocking, which has been pretty awesome.”
As most Vols fans know, it wasn’t always this way.
The Tony Vitello era made its debut on Feb. 16, 2018, when Tennessee lost at home to Maryland 4-0 before an announced crowd of 1,312. The Vols had three times that audience for a fall scrimmage this past October at AT&T Field, right before Vitello left to become manager of the San Francisco Giants, and Josh Elander’s first team has played before seven crowds of at least 7,000 at a venue that has undergone a $105 million renovation.
Tuesday’s 5 p.m. game against Belmont will likely be Tennessee’s last at Lindsey Nelson Stadium this season.
“When Tony and I were recruiting all these guys on this team, we talked about this park and having all the suites done and the lights and the fireworks,” Elander said. “It’s pretty cool to see everyone working together to win.”
While this season’s Vols have not been dominant at home as some of their predecessors — Tennessee was an eye-popping 111-14 at Lindsey Nelson during the 2022-24 seasons — they have still been solid. Taking two of three from Texas resulted in the Vols finishing 8-7 at home in Southeastern Conference contests, and they are 27-10 at home overall.
Within the past four seasons, Lindsey Nelson Stadium’s capacity has jumped in rough numbers from 4,200 to 6,200 last season to 7,600 now, yet one of the loudest roars remains the Drew Gilbert walk-off grand slam in the 2021 NCAA regional that lifted the Vols over upset-minded Wright State 9-8. That announced sellout crowd was 3,951.
“That was crazy, and I was saying some prayers to start that ninth inning,” said Elander, who was Vitello’s longtime hitting coach before being promoted. “There are some great memories. I remember against Indiana two years ago when it got so loud their guy couldn’t hear his pitch count in any capacity. He ends up getting (penalized) a couple of balls, and we end up hitting a double.
“It can really change the game. I really feel like we have a true home-field advantage, and when you have energy like that in the building, you can really feel it.”
After Saturday’s victory, Elander explained that he had looked over at Vols director of analytics Zach Stovall during the game and thought he was wearing an AirPod.
“I was like, ‘What are you doing?'” Elander said. “It was an earplug. He was like, ‘It’s getting loud in here.'”
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By the time right fielder Reese Chapman was a freshman in 2023, the Vols had already gone 57-9 the year before, and the school had announced the plans for Lindsey Nelson’s renovations. Chapman got to watch those unfold for the rest of his career.
“To come from my freshman year, when we still had portable bleachers down the left-field line, and to see what it looks like now is amazing,” Chapman said Sunday afternoon. “I’m the only one who has played in all the environments of what Lindsey Nelson has looked like. It’s truly remarkable what the fans bring and the energy they bring for this program.
“Their support means everything.”
Ranked again
Tennessee winning its weekend series with Texas resulted in the Vols moving back into the Baseball America rankings Monday at No. 24.
The Vols are among 11 SEC teams in this week’s poll, which has a top three of UCLA, North Carolina and Georgia Tech. Auburn is the highest-ranked SEC team at No. 4, with the Tigers followed by No. 5 Georgia, No. 6 Texas, No. 9 Florida, No. 10 Arkansas, No. 12 Mississippi State, No. 15 Texas A&M, No. 19 Alabama, No. 20 Oklahoma, No. 22 Ole Miss and the Vols.
Georgia has already clinched the SEC’s regular-season title and will play at Auburn this weekend in a top-five showdown.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com.