Texas and Tennessee meet this weekend at Lindsey Nelson Stadium in Knoxville for the first regular-season series between the programs as conference opponents, a matchup that brings Jim Schlossnagle face to face with Josh Elander, one of his former players and assistants from TCU. The No. 4 Longhorns and the Volunteers have played five times before, but every game in the all-time series came at a neutral site.
The stakes are bigger now because the teams have already crossed paths in the biggest moments. Texas beat Tennessee in the 2021 College World Series, while Tennessee answered by beating Texas in the SEC Tournament last year. Schlossnagle called Elander energetic and well groomed as a coach, saying his former assistant had the temperament to succeed and praising Tennessee as a super physical team.
Elander’s path to this series runs through Fort Worth and Knoxville. He was a catcher and left fielder at TCU, helped the Horned Frogs reach their first-ever College World Series as a freshman in 2010 and was taken in the sixth round of the 2012 MLB Draft by the Atlanta Braves. He then spent eight years as an assistant at Tennessee before taking over the program in his first season as head coach.
The Volunteers have not had a smooth SEC season, entering the series tied for 11th in the league at 11-13 even after a home series win over then-No. 13 Alabama and a road sweep of then-No. 9 Mississippi State. Yet Tennessee’s offense has kept it in the conversation. The Vols have hit 31 home runs over their last 10 games, have 91 on the season and rank 10th nationally, putting them on pace to top 100 homers for the fifth straight year, something no SEC program has done before.
That power has shown up in bursts. Tennessee hit a season-high six home runs in a 13-5 win over then-No. 25 Ole Miss last month, and four players now have 10 or more homers. Henry Ford leads the way with 15 home runs, a.305 average and 49 RBI, while Levi Clark has struggled overall at.221 but has been far better in conference play, batting.297 with seven home runs. Clark also homered twice in last Sunday’s win over Kentucky.
Tennessee will start right-hander Tegan Kuhns on Friday. He is 3-4 with a 3.46 ERA. For the Vols, the series is another chance to measure whether their power can carry them through the league’s grind. For Texas, it is a first look at a Tennessee team that may not have the cleanest record, but still has the kind of lineup that can change a weekend fast.
