Tennessee baseball flashes potential in series win vs No. 4 Texas
Tennessee baseball has shown its potential to beat elite teams this season, and it did so again with two wins against Texas.
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).