Tennessee baseball’s disastrous 2026 season can be sourced to one primary culprit that was once a point of optimism
Tennessee baseball’s 2026 season is circling the drain after another painful series loss on Sunday. And if they can’t get a major improvement from their bullpen moving forward, it’ll be an early end to their season.
It was another late-game loss for the Tennessee Vols on Sunday against the defending national champion LSU Tigers, and in a season of gutting losses, this one might take the cake for worst of them all.
The Vols gave up a 5-0 lead and held a 5-2 advantage with starter Evan Blanco done after one out in the 7th. But then, the bullpen came in, and brought a gas can to the mound. LSU hit three solo home runs in the 7th, two after Blanco was pulled. Another came in the 11th. And in the 12th, the Tigers went berzerk, posting 10 runs, including a grand slam and another home run.
And, while the offense has had its issues at times during the season, it’s the bullpen — considered a unit full of potential entering the season — that’s notably let this team down in 2026. Outside of freshman Cam Appenzeller, that is.
As the Daily Beacon’s Trevor McGee noted, when you take out Appenzeller’s excellence and Tegan Kuhns’ single bullpen appearance in the opener at Vandy, the rest of Tennessee’s bullpen is allowing more than a run per inning in SEC play. Ouch.
Tennessee’s bullpen has been an anchor in a disappointing 2026 season
Tennessee did yeoman’s work last offseason, or so it seemed, as far as bringing in quality arms who could fill out both the rotation and the bullpen. Mission accomplished in the rotation, with Landon Mack (Rutgers) and Evan Blanco (Virginia) having great starts to their Tennessee careers.
But Tennessee just doesn’t seem to have the reliable and confident arms in the late innings to close the door in SEC games. They’ve gotten some decent work out of Brady Frederick and Bo Rhudy, but the rest of the group has largely fallen on tough times. That includes Brandon Arvidson, who struggled to find his command in the late innings on Friday night and walked three in just a third of an inning, setting up a grand slam off Rhudy to put LSU up for good.
“Yeah, I mean, you can look at it one way right there, but they’re just not getting it done, right?” Elander said after the game on Sunday when asked about his bullpen pitching with conviction. “So we need to coach those guys and get them in better spots. I mean, there’s no excuse to a 10-spot in the 12th inning in an SEC game regardless of who we throw out there. It shouldn’t be anybody that’s on our roster. That’s just not a competitive inning right there, and our guys were getting hunted down by their hitters. So it needs to be better all the way around, and we need to make some adjustments there.”
In recent years, Tennessee hasn’t had a shortage of guys in the late innings who’ve had the stuff and the mindset to slam the door on games. Kirby Connell, Nate Snead, Aaron Combs. Dudes with different levels and/or types of stuff, but all of whom had the confidence to come in and finish games. And while none were perfect, they were on another level from what we’ve been seeing late in games this year outside of Appenzeller, particularly with the walks.
The Vols are now 4-8 in SEC play and facing an uphill battle to even make the NCAA Tournament. They only have one Appenzeller. Can anyone step up in SEC play and prove himself as another reliable high-leverage option here as we approach the midpoint of the season? If not, then not much will likely change in what’s amounting to be a very forgettable first season for Josh Elander.
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