Landon Mack, Manny Marin listed on Tennessee baseball availability report vs. Oklahoma

Tennessee pitcher Landon Mack is listed as ‘OUT’ and infielder Manny Marin is a ‘game-time decision’ on the pregame SEC Availability Report as the Vols and Oklahoma cap the regular season on Saturday.

Josh Elander said Mack was day-to-day with general arm soreness following Tuesday’s 11-1 midweek win over Belmont. Marin’s situation is believed to be minor, a source with direct knowledge told Volquest on Saturday.

Tennessee was leading Oklahoma 5-3 in the bottom of the seventh inning with one out and a runner on first when the contest was halted for a weather delay. Game 2 of the series was eventually suspended until 2 p.m. ET on Saturday with the series finale (and regular season finale) set to be played 45 minutes after the conclusion of Game 2.

The Vols took Game 1 of the weekend set over the Sooners on Thursday, holding on for the 9-7 victory.

Mack missed his start against Texas on Sunday due the soreness, but is working toward a return, although Elander did not have any “major updates” on Mack on Tuesday.

“He has been moving around, which is a good sign,” Elander said. “He has been playing catch. Him and I just talked in the dugout pregame briefly after I got done throwing BP. It will be a day-to-day deal. No major updates. We are never going to put him a position unless he is 100% convicted and ready to go. It’ll be a day-to-day thing from here on out.”

Mack is 4-4 with a 4.67 ERA in 12 starts. He has struck out 77 in 61.2 innings with a team-high 25 walks.

Elander indicated Saturday that the Vols found out pregame Saturday that Mack would not be available against Texas. He didn’t have a timeline for Mack’s return at that point, but did say he is “excited to see him back out there.”

“We’ll make sure he gets the highest level of care as always,” Elander said. “But you know that’s a guy that’s going to pitch in the major leagues for a long time. Has really, really good stuff. We’ll wait to get all the all the details as it plays out, but he will not throw for us tomorrow.”

Mack, who was listed as ‘questionable’ on the Wednesday Availability Report ahead of the series, had one of his best starts of the season against Kentucky on May 3. He struck out six and allowed one run on six hits and two walks in six innings of a 10-9 Tennessee win.

The sophomore had a pair of rocky starts in his two prior outings against Ole Miss and Alabama, but made adjustments in his delivery to avoid tipping pitches before the Kentucky start. He also used a new glove to help hide the baseball better.

Tennessee started freshman Taylor Tracey against Texas on Sunday with Mack out. Tracey had a bumpy start and the bullpen game that followed didn’t go well for the Vols outside of brief spurts in the loss.

Marin is currently 2-for-3 in the yet-to-be finished Game 2 of the series, logging an RBI triple to go along with a double in his first two at-bats in the game. The sophomore’s average now sits at .298 for the season.