No. 13 Alabama baseball will hit the road for the second weekend in a row to face Tennessee in Knoxville.
The Crimson Tide has been struggling as of late, dropping five of its last six SEC games, and has really struggled on both offense and defense.
“A lot of what we need to spend our energy and our focus on is us tomorrow in practice,” head coach Rob Vaughn said. “Will have a game plan together ready, but we got some stuff we got to get better at when we get on the bus and head down there tomorrow.”
The Vols are an extremely talented team on paper, but have been inconsistent this season. They are coming off losing two of three games at home to No. 17 Ole Miss, but the weekend before, they went into Starksville and swept No. 15 Mississippi State.
This year, the Vols are led by first-year head coach Josh Elander, who took over for Tony Vitello. Vitello led Tennessee to a national championship in 2024 before becoming the first college head coach to jump directly to the MLB, where he now manages the San Francisco Giants. Thus far, Elander has led the Vols to a record of 26-14 and 8-10 in the SEC.
Pitching matchups
On Thursday, right-hander Landon Mack will take the mound for the Vols. In Mack’s first 10 starts, he has posted a 4.39 ERA, a 1.42 WHIP, a .274 batting average against and 69 strikeouts in 53.1 innings pitched. Mack will face off against Tyler Fay, who is coming off one of his worst starts of the year, allowing seven runs in Austin against No. Texas.
Right-hander Tegan Kuhns will get the starting nod for the Vols on Friday, facing off against left-hander Zane Adams. Adams is coming off a dominant six shutout innings against the Longhorns. In nine starts, Kuhns has a 3.35 ERA, 1.12 WHIP, .236 opponents’ batting average and has punched out 64 hitters in 51 innings pitched.
The Vols’ left-handed hurler Evan Blanco will toe the rubber on Saturday against freshman Myles Upchurch. Upchurch is coming off consecutive magnificent performances, holding No. 24 Arkansas and the Longhorns to two runs over 11.1 innings. In 10 starts, Blanco has boasted an ERA of 3.76, 1.13 WHIP, .210 opponents’ batting average and 66 punchouts in 55 innings pitched.
“I know they’ve got three elite starting pitchers,” Vaughn said.
These pitching staffs are extremely evenly matched, as the Crimson Tide has the 17th-best team ERA in the nation at 3.88, while the Vols have the 24th-best at 4.11. The Vols don’t allow a ton of base runners with the No. 6 WHIP in the country at 1.17 compared to the Crimson Tide at No. 20 with a 1.28.
Vols offensive leaders
The Vols offense is led by third baseman Henry Ford in just about every major offensive stat, hitting .309, with 12 home runs, 38 RBIs and a .949 OPS. Shortstop Manny Marin has also had a solid season, hitting .287, with six homers, 27 RBIs and a .816 OPS. Marin and Ford combine for a scary left side of the infield for any pitching staff.
“I know Henry Ford’s really good,” Vaughn said. “I know they’ve got some offensive dudes in there that have had some ups and downs, but are extremely talented,”
The Vols’ right fielder, Reese Chapman, will also be a tough out for the Crimson Tide pitching staff, as he is hitting .283 with five long balls, 23 RBIs and a .893 OPS. First baseman Blake Grimmer has been one of the Vols’ best hitters since returning from a back injury, hitting .301, with 10 bombs, 24 RBIs and a 1.074 OPS.
Center fielder Garrett Wright has been one of the Vols’ hottest hitters, forcing Elander’s hand into making him an everyday starter back in the second weekend of SEC play. Wright is hitting .324, with three homers, 14 RBIs and a .966 OPS.
Keys to the Crimson Tide’s success
The Crimson Tide offense will have to be better than it was last against the Longhorns, when they scored just five runs in three games and struck out an unprecedented amount of 49 times in three games.
The defense has to improve for the Crimson Tide; they have now had 19 errors over the last eight games and have 60 errors on the season in 42 games, the most in the SEC.
This is a huge series for the Crimson Tide, which has aspirations to host a regional but will have to finish strong in the final four weekends of SEC play. Last year, through 42 games, the Crimson Tide was 28-14, and this year, it has the same record. Last year in its final four series, the team went 6-6; the Crimson Tide will have to do better than that this year if it wants to be one of the 16 regional hosts.
“Can we flip the script and get ourselves right and play our best baseball down the stretch?” Vaughn said. “The best teams I’ve had have done that. Last year, frankly, we didn’t do that great. We had moments of really good, really steady, but we didn’t play our best baseball at the end. That’s what this group’s got to do.”
The series will begin Thursday night with the first pitch scheduled for 6 p.m. CT on ESPN2.
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