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Texas ace Dylan Volantis disguises his pitches as well as anyone in college baseball. The lefty’s over-the-top release point makes for a lethal delivery that fools virtually every lineup it faces.
Tennessee coach Josh Elander’s solution: practice against something entirely nonhuman.
When players arrived for batting practice on May 7, they discovered an unusual contraption near the mound. Three chairs were stacked tall with a pitching machine on top, sharply spinning baseballs that would dart every which way as they approached home plate. When the three-game series began, the Vols were ready.
Tennessee (34-18, 13-14 SEC) became the first team to beat Volantis this season with a 5-1 win over No. 4 Texas (37-12, 16-10) on May 8 at Lindsey Nelson Stadium. UT's offense was even better in Game 2 for a 14-9 victory and, despite losing the series finale 13-6 on May 10, was able to leave its final home SEC series with two wins against a top-five ranked team.
“It's the fundamental things that we've talked about: fighting to score first, scoring more than six runs and limiting our free (passes)," Elander said on May 10. "When we do that we're a pretty darn good group."
The Vols have been anything but a model of consistency this season, but they now own series wins against three projected regional hosts (Texas, Alabama and Mississippi State). This series provided another boost to Tennessee’s confidence for the postseason.
“May has always been – in my time here at least – it’s been the month of the Vols,” right fielder Reese Chapman said on May 10. “We’ve always played our best baseball in the month of May. We’re just continuing to hammer that within the program.”
The Vols hit the ball out of the park with frequency against the Longhorns, totaling eight homers in the last two games – including six on May 9. They've hit 33 homers in their last 13 games.
Tennessee is now at 99 home runs on the season and poised for a fifth straight season with at least 100. Five players have double-digit homers after Chapman blasted two, including a grand slam, in Game 3.
“The guys’ work in the cages and throughout practice is showing up now, and it’s so awesome to see different guys show up for this program and in these crucial games,” Chapman said.
The Vols were also able to keep at-bats alive against Texas’ high-powered staff. Longhorns starters Volantis and Ruger Riojas both rank in the top five in the SEC in strikeouts, but in nine combined innings against the Vols they only managed six strikeouts.
“Facing good arms is going to be a theme the rest of the year, but our offense should have a lot of confidence moving forward after facing some really good arms this weekend,” Elander said.
A few runs of support were all Tegan Kuhns needed for Tennessee in the series opener, as the Vols’ ace turned in seven shutout innings and 15 strikeouts. In Game 2, Evan Blanco got through seven innings of five-run ball to earn the win.
But after those two, it was another weekend to forget for Tennessee’s pitching staff.
With Landon Mack scratched due to general arm soreness to start Game 3, the Vols turned to their bullpen. Freshman left-hander Taylor Tracey, who started the game with 1.1 innings of experience in SEC play, didn’t even make it out of the first inning. The only Tennessee pitcher that didn’t allow a run was Mark Hindy, who threw only one pitch. The Vols walked 10 batters.
“Not good enough,” Elander said after the game. “… Need to be better. Need to be better with Mack out.”
Excluding Hindy’s one pitch, half of the eight Tennessee relievers that appeared in the series allowed multiple earned runs.
Emmett Siegel covers Tennessee baseball for Knox News. Email: [email protected]; X: @EmmettSiegel_
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Tennessee baseball's offense superb vs Texas, but bullpen still a concern
Continue reading...
Tennessee coach Josh Elander’s solution: practice against something entirely nonhuman.
When players arrived for batting practice on May 7, they discovered an unusual contraption near the mound. Three chairs were stacked tall with a pitching machine on top, sharply spinning baseballs that would dart every which way as they approached home plate. When the three-game series began, the Vols were ready.
Tennessee (34-18, 13-14 SEC) became the first team to beat Volantis this season with a 5-1 win over No. 4 Texas (37-12, 16-10) on May 8 at Lindsey Nelson Stadium. UT's offense was even better in Game 2 for a 14-9 victory and, despite losing the series finale 13-6 on May 10, was able to leave its final home SEC series with two wins against a top-five ranked team.
“It's the fundamental things that we've talked about: fighting to score first, scoring more than six runs and limiting our free (passes)," Elander said on May 10. "When we do that we're a pretty darn good group."
The Vols have been anything but a model of consistency this season, but they now own series wins against three projected regional hosts (Texas, Alabama and Mississippi State). This series provided another boost to Tennessee’s confidence for the postseason.
“May has always been – in my time here at least – it’s been the month of the Vols,” right fielder Reese Chapman said on May 10. “We’ve always played our best baseball in the month of May. We’re just continuing to hammer that within the program.”
Home runs flowing for Tennessee
The Vols hit the ball out of the park with frequency against the Longhorns, totaling eight homers in the last two games – including six on May 9. They've hit 33 homers in their last 13 games.
Tennessee is now at 99 home runs on the season and poised for a fifth straight season with at least 100. Five players have double-digit homers after Chapman blasted two, including a grand slam, in Game 3.
“The guys’ work in the cages and throughout practice is showing up now, and it’s so awesome to see different guys show up for this program and in these crucial games,” Chapman said.
The Vols were also able to keep at-bats alive against Texas’ high-powered staff. Longhorns starters Volantis and Ruger Riojas both rank in the top five in the SEC in strikeouts, but in nine combined innings against the Vols they only managed six strikeouts.
“Facing good arms is going to be a theme the rest of the year, but our offense should have a lot of confidence moving forward after facing some really good arms this weekend,” Elander said.
Pitching depth remains a major concern
A few runs of support were all Tegan Kuhns needed for Tennessee in the series opener, as the Vols’ ace turned in seven shutout innings and 15 strikeouts. In Game 2, Evan Blanco got through seven innings of five-run ball to earn the win.
But after those two, it was another weekend to forget for Tennessee’s pitching staff.
With Landon Mack scratched due to general arm soreness to start Game 3, the Vols turned to their bullpen. Freshman left-hander Taylor Tracey, who started the game with 1.1 innings of experience in SEC play, didn’t even make it out of the first inning. The only Tennessee pitcher that didn’t allow a run was Mark Hindy, who threw only one pitch. The Vols walked 10 batters.
“Not good enough,” Elander said after the game. “… Need to be better. Need to be better with Mack out.”
Excluding Hindy’s one pitch, half of the eight Tennessee relievers that appeared in the series allowed multiple earned runs.
Emmett Siegel covers Tennessee baseball for Knox News. Email: [email protected]; X: @EmmettSiegel_
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Tennessee baseball's offense superb vs Texas, but bullpen still a concern
Continue reading...
