By Taylor Lankford
First-year head coach Josh Elander has just accomplished something that even championship-winning head coach Tony Vitello could not: go undefeated in the midweek game.
Tennessee (35-18) hosted Belmont (19-33) on Tuesday in the last regular season outing at new and improved Lindsey Nelson Stadium. After an impressive series win at home against the No. 4-ranked Texas, the Volunteers handled business with an 11-1 run-rule victory over the Bruins to reach 14-0 on the midweek slate.
While it may seem easy for a team to do, given the level of comparative talent these mid-majors possess, this is the first time this century that Tennessee has accomplished this feat.
“I think it’s just respect for college baseball and how competitive it can be each day. And, you know, anybody can win on any day,” said Elander. “To be able to do it over a long period of time and having big sample sizes and be consistent and win in different ways, I think that’s a really good sign.”
Nic Abraham (2-0) took the mound for the Volunteers. After starting the first two innings in last week’s midweek outing against Presbyterian, the sophomore pitched a career high five and two-thirds innings, recording four strikeouts and a 4.36 ERA.
“After Sunday… I understood what my role was gonna be coming into a game like today… I was just happy to do whatever I could do to help the team,” said Abraham.
Levi Clark got the offense started tonight. After batting 0.545 combined in this weekend’s series against the Longhorns, the sophomore blasted a two-run homer over the left-center field wall. Returning home with him was Blake Grimmer, who had walked on a previous at-bat.
Following a silent couple of innings, the Volunteers once again made some noise. With only a one-run lead heading into the bottom of the fifth frame, Jay Abernathy and Garrett Wright sent back-to-back solo homers out opposite ends of Lindsey Nelson to give them a 4-1 advantage.
Two at-bats later, Henry Ford does what he does best and sends his sixteenth homer this season flying into the left field porch, tallying his 50th RBI and giving Tennessee the 5-1 lead at the end of the fifth.
Tennessee followed the usual midweek trend by throwing a handful of young arms out of the bullpen. After a surprisingly lengthy stint on the bump from starter Abraham, he was followed up by freshman Will Haas, junior Brady Frederick, and freshman Chandler Day, who threw a combined two and a third innings.
However, it was a six-run eighth inning that put this one away for the Volunteers.
DH Trent Grindlinger continued his hot streak with a solo homer to left field to start the inning. A few more base hits and a trio of RBIs from Manny Marin and Ariel Antigua gave Tennessee a 9-1 lead. But it was PH Hunter High, the unsuspecting hero, the Volunteer with only 13 at-bats this season, who launched a two-run walk-off to the porches that ended this one, 11-1.
“This place is home. I love this place. I grew up a Tennessee Vols fan, and just getting to do what I love with my teammates by my side, I just love them so much,” said High.
Up Next: The Volunteers will have little downtime after this victory. They will hit the road to face Oklahoma at a neutral-site game in Oklahoma City for their final conference series of the season, starting Thursday night at 7:30 p.m. ET.