The polls are out.
A new era of Tennessee baseball is just about here. The Volunteers have moved on to Josh Elander as the head baseball coach with Tony Vitello making the historic move to take the San Francisco Giants gig. Luckily for Tennessee, Elander was able to hold most of the roster together and the Volunteers are set to once again be a national threat.
Tennessee has debuted at No.3 overall in Perfect Game’s preseason poll. The Volunteers were a part of a huge contingent of SEC schools, headlined by LSU at No. 1. Arkansas (4), Texas (8) and Auburn (10) were all named top ten teams. Florida (12), Georgia (15) and Vanderbilt (19) all made the cut as well.
Perfect Game also named new Tennessee slugger Henry Ford a first-team All-American. Ford hit .362 last season for Virginia and opted to come to Knoxville over an opportunity to turn pro. Right-hander Brady Frederick was also named to the third-team roster.
D1 Baseball is lower on Tennessee’s prospects, ranking the Vols 14th. They placed eleven teams from the Southeastern Conference in their top 25.
Tennessee announced their 2026 roster last week, showing 18 pitchers, 18 positional players and three two-way players. Familiar names like Manny Marin, Levi Clark, Reese Chapman and Jay Abernathy return for Elander, while newcomers like Henry Ford and Blaine Brown will add some pop to the lineup. Transfers Landon Mack and Evan Blanco solidify things on the mound.
Tennessee’s season-opener is now a month out, with Nichols State slated to come to town for a three-game series (February 13-15).
Category: General Sports
