By Jack Glennon
Tennessee needs to shorten up its collective swing before its deficit in the SEC standings becomes insurmountable, and it was showcased tonight.
Coming off the heels of an impressive series sweep on the road against the No. 9 Mississippi State, the Volunteers returned to Lindsey Nelson Stadium on Friday, dropping the first of three games against the No. 25 Ole Miss Rebels by a final score of 7-4.
The loss dropped the Volunteers to 25-13 (7-9 SEC).
Rather than being the result of an outstanding performance by the Rebels, the Volunteers’ loss was directly caused by their avoidable, inexplicable mishaps.
To characterize Tennessee’s plate discipline as unsatisfactory would be an enormous understatement, as the Volunteers’ complete inability to resist pitches outside of the strike zone only worsened Friday evening.
They managed just one walk, while tallying seven hits. They also fell victim to nine strikeouts and a pair of double plays.
Perhaps the lone bright spot for Tennessee’s offense was the performance of utility man Jay Abernathy.
The sophomore came into the evening sporting a sub-par .230 batting average, yet left Lindsey Nelson Stadium with a multi-hit performance which featured a two-run blast over the right-center field wall.
Volunteer fans can only hope that Abernathy’s explosive performance marks the end of a long slump, and that the rest of Tennessee’s offense hastily follows suit.
This is not the first time this season that Tennessee’s lineup has looked anemic, as the 2024 College World Series champions have combined for a disappointing .267 batting average.
Perhaps more importantly, the Volunteers’ .367 on-base percentage is the second-lowest mark in the conference, topping only 19-20 South Carolina.
The Volunteers also rank in the bottom three for walks in conference, further indicating the team’s allergy to remaining disciplined on offense.
Potentially Tennessee’s most obvious issue on offense, however, is their lack of a dominant power bat.
Adding a slugger to an inconsistent offense allows the remainder of the lineup to see a significantly higher number of pitches inside the strike zone.
Perhaps the strongest example of such a domino effect is the performance of San Francisco Giants position players in the early 2000s, when they shared the field with Barry Bonds.
MLB Hall of Fame first baseman Jeff Kent, a member of the Bonds-led Giants, won the National League MVP award in 2000.
Though indisputably a great individual player, Kent’s performance was greatly elevated by the mere presence of Bonds.
In 17 total seasons in the MLB, Kent appeared in five All-Star Games. Three of those appearances came as Bonds’ teammate.
Further, Kent also boasted an OPS (on-base percentage plus slugging percentage) nearly 50 points higher than his career average as a member of the Giants.
Tennessee does not have a position player that opposing teams feel the need to pitch around.
A significant piece of the puzzle for Tennessee’s offensive success a season ago was the presence of first baseman Andrew Fischer, who was known for his enormous power, launching an SEC-best 25 home runs.
Though many games are left to be played for the Volunteers, their leading slugger has just 11 home runs on the season.
To add further insult to injury for the Volunteers, their pitching staff was unable to make up for the offense’s lethargic evening, giving up seven runs.
Unlike losses prior, however, Tennessee’s bullpen was not the reason for the staff’s demise, as Tennessee’s starting pitcher, Landon Mack collected the loss.
I would also argue that head coach Josh Elander’s lack of trust in his bullpen also cost the Volunteers a sixth straight victory.
Through the first four innings, Mack yielded as many runs, yet returned for the fifth inning, where he was struck for two more.
It was not as though Mack’s opposition was reaching base on soft contact, either.
The sophomore transfer from Rutgers gave up three home runs, seven hits, and two walks, also hitting two batters.
“They [got] some free passes,” Elander admitted. “That we did not need to give up.”
In fact, Mack would not be relieved until after retiring the first batter of the sixth inning.
After Elander was tasked with maintaining the standard of excellence achieved by legendary former head coach Tony Vitello, who became the 40th manager of the San Francisco Giants in October, expectations for Elander were admittedly unattainable.
However, decisions (or lack thereof) like these from any head coach at the collegiate level are difficult to excuse.
On the bright side, the aforementioned Tennessee bullpen yielded just one earned run across 3.2 innings pitched, a stark improvement from the 10.29 ERA the unit posted in the Volunteers’ previous home series.
The performance of freshman left-hander Chandler Day was particularly impressive, striking out the side in order in the top of the 8th.
“The more experience I get, the more it will help me in the long run,” Day said. “As long as everyone goes out there and does their job… [we] will be okay.”
Another freshman lefty, Will Haas, hurled a similar scoreless ninth inning.
“[The bullpen] did a really good job,” Elander said. “It was nice to see [them] pitch with some confidence.”
The good news for the Volunteers, though, is that when a baseball game is lost, an opportunity to correct mistakes arises the very next day and in front of a sold-out, checkered, newly renovated Lindsey Nelson.