Tennessee baseball is banking on things to be a lot different in its toughest weekend yet.
In the Vols’ series loss against Kent State, power-hitting MLB prospect Blaine Brown didn’t register a hit and four other members of the starting lineup could only muster one apiece. Tennessee batters had trouble picking up big hits with runners on while free bases plagued pitching.
Most of those things changed in an 8-3 win over Bellarmine on Tuesday evening, a solid sign for a Vols team facing their steepest challenge of the young season on the horizon. In the coming days, it’ll be all keeping the trend headed upward after past struggles.
“I think it’s just baseball,” head coach Josh Elander said. “It’s going to happen every now and then. Our situational execution, we practice that every Wednesday. It’s one of our main things of the week, and it’s all these different scenarios to try and prepare them.
“I like this offensive group. They’ve taken some good swings, but we need to string them together. But that was a good sign tonight.”
Even though Tennessee went 3-for-19 with runners on against the Knights, the Vols made their big hits count. Two of them yielded five runs, a pair of homers from Brown and Marin that carried their group to a win.
“I was looking for a fastball,” Marin said. “He kept throwing it. It had some run. I wanted to look for something in, and he came in with it 3-2.”
Tennessee got the missing production it needed from two of its key offensive cogs, an element of the game it’ll need to take down some of the nation’s top talent at the Amegy College Baseball Series. Jay Abernathy’s three hits in the leadoff spot act as a positive omen for his confidence level at the top of Elander’s lineup.
The speedy utilityman excelled in his second game at the top of the order, swiping a trio of bags to boot to help generate chaos on the basepaths.
“He’s a threat everywhere he is on the field,” Marin said. “Especially with the bat in his hands. It’s a lot of fun to watch.”
After not appearing over the weekend against the Golden Flashes, the presence of highly-touted freshman arm Cam Appenzeller is expected to be another new contributor to the pitching efforts this time around.
The former Seattle Mariners draft pick picked up the win over Bellarmine after one inning of clean work, only allowing one batter to reach. His four innings in the Vols’ midweek victory over UNC Asheville played into Elander’s decision to not use him against Kent State. He’ll be rested and ready when Tennessee heads to Arlington, Texas, though.
“You got to adjust on the fly,” Elander said. “I think with what he brings to the table with his strike throwing and stuff, I won’t give you everything right now, but we’re talking about stacking those guys up with some different looks going into this weekend and as we get closer to SEC play.”