Tennessee Baseball Drops Game 3 Against Kent State 9-5

The Tennessee baseball program has suffered their second loss on the season resulting in the first series loss in 2026.

Game 3 was set to be the tiebreaker between Kent State and the hometown Volunteers. The first two games were battles all the way to the end as each game was decided by 1-run.

Sunday's series finale was the only one that didn't fit that mold as the visitors departed with a 9-5 win over then men in orange.

It was another outing where the bats just were not connecting as they usually do, and the errors from Game 2 rolled over into Game 3.

Too many simple mistakes were made to expect a win.

In terms of the errors, much of that can be fixed as it is fundamental habits. Seeing the ball all the way through the catch, throwing catchable balls to teammates, and just keeping things in front.

Tennessee left too many runners on base throughout the series but definitely in Game 3. When you get guys on base, especially in scoring position, you have to get the guys across home plate.

Overall hitting was tough during Games 2&3 for Tennessee as the Vols only had 12 hits combined between the two games.

It will be interesting to see how much Josh Elander continues to adjust the batting lineup. On Sunday, a few changes were made in the batting order to try and create an offensive spark.

Elander admitted following the game that this was not Tennessee's standard, and that the program just has to settle in and get better.

A potential silver lining to this series is having such a competitive series early on can only benefit the young Vols as they strive to get better and to find their true identity as a team before rolling into conference play around mid-March.

The first in-conference contest will be away at Georgia for a 3-game series.

The Vols will be back on the diamond at home on Tuesday (2/24) as they welcome Bellarmine.

Tennessee will then head to Arlington, Texas for the Amegy Bank College Baseball Series.

*Feb. 27 UCLA 4pm EST
*Feb. 28 Arizona State 12pm EST
*Mar. 1 Virginia Tech 11:30am EST

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