Tennessee Baseball Confirms First Weekend Starters

These three players will be the weekend starter against Nicholls State.

Tennessee's Tegan Kuhns (21) pitches against Kentucky during the NCAA college baseball game on April 20, 2025, in Knoxville, Tenn. | Saul Young/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Tennessee Volunteers are set to take on Nicholls State in what will be the first weekend of the college baseball season for the Orange and White.

With that has come some press conferences, including one from the head man in charge, Josh Elander. Elander discussed many things, including who will be starting in the rotation for the first weekend of the season.

Here is what he said.

Tennessee baseball coach Josh Elander shows his appreciation as he is introduced to the crowd during the NCAA college football game between Tennessee and Oklahoma on November 1, 2025, in Knoxville, Tenn. | Angelina Alcantar/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Starting Rotation

"We'll roll with Tegan Kuhns on Friday. We'll go Landon Mack on Saturday, and then Evan Blanco on Sunday. Think that puts us in the best position to have success out of the gate. I think you can make the argument where you can mix and match those guys in any capacity, but it was pretty cool. Got to call those guys one by one last night and let them know. But total confidence in all three of those guys and their ability to throw the baseball."

More on Kuhns From Elander

"Good question. Again, I think he's just made a jump. We talk about the position players from that freshman to sophomore year. Like the theme when I was talking with Tegan and even his dad over the course of the summer, nobody was happy with how the season ended, right? Because he throws in Hoover, and that was kind of it, right? So I think that's kind of springboarded him into the summer. He goes to the Cape and dominates, for lack of a better term. And again, I think that has really driven him throughout the offseason. And again, we just want him to, there's so many things that go with being the Friday night guy, but I think the unique part with our staff is we have a lot of guys that we feel like we could earmark as a Friday night starter. So again, kind of knowing the league, but Reynolds has done a great job with him again, just on the metric side. We got some stuff, I don't want to give out all the all the secrets, but he's made some changes on the pitching side. I think it gives him a little more windows where he can attack both righties and lefties, and then, again, just when you come to just competitiveness, right? I think it's as good as it gets right there with Tegan."

More on Mack and Blanco From Elander

"Well, for Vol fans, Landon, I think again, when I think of him there's some Chase Dollander in there, right? Just some similarities in the delivery, but the compete factor is about as good as it gets. And the stuff is, it's just gross to be honest. It's really good stuff. It's a real heater. Two breaking balls, a change that he's made some adjustments with. Kick change or this, or whatever it may be. But again, a guy that's thrown on Friday nights. I think he gives you stability in the middle of the rotation. And I know our guys are going to have complete confidence to play defense behind him, just by the way he attacks the strike zone and the pace of the game. I'm excited to see how Landon does. And then Blanco, just maturity. It's just again, you know what you're going to get. It's a very comforting feeling as a coach. He had, arguably, numbers-wise, the best fall of any pitcher we had on the staff. But again, can really ride the heater, good separation on the change-up. Has thrown in, has been in a lot of different roles, and had some really good times, and some not so good. But we're excited about what he brings to the table there too."

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