Four Quick Takes: Tegan Kuhns shines for Tennessee in series opener against Texas

Tennessee Baseball is back at Lindsey Nelson Stadium for one final home series of the regular season as the Vols welcome Texas for a three-game set in Southeastern Conference action.

Josh Elander’s Vols (33-17, 12-13 SEC) dropped a weekend series at Kentucky last weekend two games to one. The No. 4 Longhorns (36-11, 15-9 SEC) are coming off a series win over Mississippi State and have dropped just one series in conference play this season.

The Vols got their weekend started on the right foot with a 5-1 win over the Longhorns on Friday night.

Tegan Kuhns Shoves for Vols

Tennessee needed their Friday night starter to come up in a big way against the high-powered Longhorns, and Tegan Kuhns did just that. The Sophomore delivered with 15 strikeouts in seven full innings of work. He was in total control from start to finish.

Kuhns got in a jam with two outs in the 7th, as he gave up back-to-back hard hit singles. Josh Elander visited the mound and decided to leave Kuhns in, and the next pitch was a long, hard hit foul ball that would have been a three-run home run if fair. Kuhns bounced back and answered by firing strikes to end the inning.

Kuhns fifteen strikeouts ties the most by an SEC pitcher this season.

Josh Elander’s confidence in Kuhns pays off

As I just mentioned above, Elander went to the mound in the 7th with two outs, most likely to pull Kuhns, but after a quick conference on the mound, he decided to let him finish what he started. Pulling Kuhns should have been the comfortable, easy decision for Elander, but he opted against this.

This paid off for Tennessee in the end. Kuhns 15th strikeout of the day brought a different energy to Lindsey Nelson Stadium, and the Vols responded by adding two more in the bottom of the 7th to extend their lead to 5-0.

Vols made the most of their opportunities

Tennessee had runners in scoring position on multiple occasions on Friday night, and they made the most of those opportunities. This proved to be the difference in the ball game, in my opinion. Timely and heads up base running helped them pick up momentum early in the game, and they used the same method in the 7th inning to extend their lead.

The Vols were aggressive when it mattered the most, which allowed them to make the most of their opportunities and win the ball game against the Longhorns.

Tennessee had a plan for Volantis and it paid off

Dylan Volantis is not only one of the top pitchers in the SEC, but the entire country. He came into the weekend with an unblemished record, but It was very clear from the jump that Tennessee had a plan for him. That was to see fastball and hit fast ball. It helped that Volantis could not locate his off-speed pitches early, but when he put fastballs in the zone, Tennessee hit them and hit them hard.

The Vols were aggressive on the base paths behind that, and they played like a team that knows it is make or break time. Friday’s plan worked for Josh Elander as Tennessee got an important first win in this pivotal SEC series.