After dropping its final two games and losing the series to Kent State over the weekend, Tennessee is looking to bounce back in time for one of the premier nonconference tournaments of the season in Arlington, Texas.
The Volunteers eased some of the frustration from last weekend’s series loss by defeating Bellarmine 8-3 in a midweek matchup.
Hunter High’s sacrifice fly in the second inning accounted for the only run through the first seven innings. Tennessee’s offense broke through in the seventh when Manny Marin hit a two-run home run. The Volunteers hit two home runs in the inning and scored seven runs, though only two were earned.
While Tennessee capitalized on Bellarmine’s defensive mistakes Tuesday, offensive consistency has been a challenge this season.
“It’s just baseball,” Tennessee coach Josh Elander said after the game. “It’s going to happen every now and then.”
Levi Clark and Manny Marin echoed Elander’s message.
“Baseball is a game of ups and downs,” Clark said. “It’s not always going to go your way.”
Marin said the team must work through the struggles to improve.
“It’s baseball and just knowing inconsistencies are going to happen and being OK with it and putting your head down and working every day is what helps us get through it,” Marin said.
Despite acknowledging the highs and lows of the sport, Elander said the team continues to focus on improvement. He noted that Wednesdays are dedicated to situational execution in practice.
“It’s one of our main things of the week, and it’s all of these different scenarios to try to prepare them,” Elander said. “We basically put runners in different scenarios and throw some challenging things, maybe start with an 0-2 count or runner at third, infield back. We’ve been doing that as much as we’ve been able to get outside.”
Elander said the lineup is younger than many Tennessee teams of the past decade.
“It’s a young group offensively,” he said. “They’re very talented, but they need to be seasoned a little bit, and I think the more we get them out there, the better this team will get.”
Clark said the sophomore class has grown from last season’s experience.
“I think we’ve grown a lot as a class,” Clark said. “The first year you’re a little timid, but coming back you feel a lot more confident and have your feet under you.”
Elander added that players such as Garrett Wright, who appeared in center field in the final inning Tuesday, will soon return to the lineup, providing added depth and experience.
Looking ahead to the weekend, Elander credited Tennessee’s director of baseball strategy, Zach Stovall, for helping develop game plans for the three opponents the Volunteers will face.
Still, Elander acknowledged the level of competition.
“You have championship-level programs from all over the country,” he said. “Coach John Szefc at Virginia Tech has done a great job for a long time. Arizona State has been to Omaha many times, and everyone knows UCLA has been or is the No. 1 team in the country with some household names. We’ve always talked about attacking the day you’re at, but I would expect our guys to have a little extra juice going into the weekend.”
Tennessee opens play in the Amegy Bank College Baseball Series against UCLA at 4 p.m. ET Friday. The Volunteers face Arizona State at noon ET Saturday and Virginia Tech at 11:30 a.m. ET Sunday.
