Tennessee Vols baseball plummets in Top 25 polls following sloppy series loss to Kent State

Josh Elander’s team did not play well, but they have time to fix their problems.

Adam Holt — NFL News Writer
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Tennessee baseball coach Josh Elander runs out to his spot at third base during the NCAA college baseball game against Nicholls on Feb. 13, 2026, in Knoxville, Tennessee.

Head coach Josh Elander has plenty of pressure on him this season. As the replacement for Tony Vitello as the leader of the Tennessee Volunteers on the diamond, the expectations are sky high. Preseason and early season polls confirmed as much.

Many of them had the Vols as a top ten team. At times from other outlets, Tennessee was even ranked in the top five to start the campaign.

After some frustrating performances over the first couple weeks of play, the Vols have seen a slip in the rankings, but they’ll be more focused on their on-field mistakes at this point of the year – rather than a number beside their name.

Where the Vols rank in latest Top 25 polls following 5-2 start

  • USA TODAY Sports coaches poll: 19th
  • D1Baseball: 20th
  • Baseball America: 19th
  • Perfect Game: 13th

Series loss to Kent State revealed multiple flaws that Vols must fix

The most concerning part of the weekend for Elander’s team was that different issues plagued them over the course of the weekend.

It wasn’t one sole weakness that was glaring. In the past, that has been an easier situation to overcome because the team, or a specific group of players, can focus on improvement in that area. Against Kent State, the Vols had lapses in nearly every facet of the game – leading to their series loss.

At times, Tennessee couldn’t throw strikes, particularly out of the bullpen. In other instances, they were not hitting with runners in scoring position, and the lineup looked a bit discombobulated. The defense had hiccups as well.

Blaine Brown, the two-way stud who is drawing a ton of excitement, went hitless on the weekend. He’ll need to get going again, as the Vols draw closer to SEC play. Manny Marin hit .091 on the weekend, while Levi Clark also struggled to a .100 batting average against the Flashes.

The Vols are certainly happy with Landon Mack and Tegan Kuhns from this past weekend, though. Both guys were impressive and deserved to walk away with wins. Unfortunately, Mack was the more unlucky of the two. He drew a loss in a game where he threw 6.2 innings, struck out eleven, and allowed just two (one earned) runs.

The difficulty for Tennessee won’t get any easier this weekend, as they’re set to play top-ranked UCLA on Friday afternoon. Then, they’ll match up with Arizona State and Virginia Tech to close out the weekend.

Let’s see if Elander and his guys can steer the ship back out of bumpy waters.

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