SEC Baseball: Appenzeller Returns After Strong Freshman Run
Tennessee freshman Cam Appenzeller will be back next season after posting a 4.76 ERA with 64 strikeouts in 56.2 innings, positioning him as a candidate for a 2027 rotation spot.
38-22 Season Record
The VCU Rams defeated the Tennessee Volunteers 5-4 on Friday at Bryson Field at Boshamer Stadium in front of 3,715 fans. The non-conference contest came down to a single run.
| Player | AVG | H-AB | HR | RBI | R | BB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reese Chapman | 0.412 | 14-34 | 4 | 14 | 12 | 2 |
| Levi Clark | 0.333 | 14-42 | 3 | 8 | 11 | 3 |
| Garrett Wright | 0.308 | 4-13 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 1 |
| Trent Grindlinger | 0.295 | 13-44 | 2 | 7 | 8 | 3 |
| Blake Grimmer | 0.293 | 12-41 | 2 | 7 | 11 | 7 |
| Manny Marin | 0.286 | 10-35 | 1 | 9 | 5 | 2 |
| Jay Abernathy | 0.208 | 5-24 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 0 |
| Ariel Antigua | 0.200 | 1-5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Pitcher | ERA | IP | K | BB | WHIP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LHP Evan - P Blanco | 1.29 | 7.0 | 4 | 0 | 1.00 |
| RHP Nic Abraham | 1.41 | 6.4 | 6 | 1 | 0.94 |
| RHP Bo - P Rhudy | 2.25 | 4.0 | 4 | 1 | 1.00 |
| Will Haas | 3.33 | 5.4 | 10 | 2 | 1.30 |
| LHP Cam - P Appenzeller | 3.75 | 2.4 | 5 | 0 | 0.83 |
| LHP Brandon Arvidson | 4.09 | 2.2 | 1 | 0 | 1.36 |
Tennessee freshman Cam Appenzeller will be back next season after posting a 4.76 ERA with 64 strikeouts in 56.2 innings, positioning him as a candidate for a 2027 rotation spot.
Rutgers transfer Landon Mack is back for Tennessee in 2027 after starting 12 games with a 4.67 ERA and 77 strikeouts over 61.2 innings, though he missed the postseason with arm soreness.
Tennessee will return pitchers Cam Appenzeller and Landon Mack next season, giving coach Josh Elander two-thirds of his projected weekend rotation already set as the transfer portal opens.
Head coach Josh Elander begins his first full offseason in Knoxville tasked with reloading the roster and keeping the Vols a national contender after a string of portal departures.
Teagan Kavan tossed a two-hit shutout as No. 2 Texas blanked Tennessee 4-0 to complete a semifinal sweep, ending the Lady Vols' run and sending the Longhorns to the WCWS championship series.
Senior Reese Chapman launched a two-run homer in his final game for Tennessee, and Stone Lawless added a home run and a sac fly in the season-ending defeat to VCU.
Tennessee's regional exit came down to offense, as the Vols went just 1-for-17 with runners in scoring position and struck out 31 times across the weekend in Chapel Hill.
VCU outlasted No. 12 Tennessee 5-4 in a hard-fought non-conference matchup Friday at Bryson Field at Boshamer Stadium. The Rams held off a late Volunteers push to secure the one-run victory in a tightly contested game streamed on ESPN+.
Tennessee's season closed with a 5-4 loss to VCU in the Chapel Hill Regional, the program's first-ever winless regional, as the Vols went just 1-for-17 with runners in scoring position over the weekend.
Alannah Leach's diving catch erased a bases-loaded seventh-inning threat and Taelyn Holley's homer provided the spark as Tennessee outlasted runner-up Texas Tech to keep its title hopes alive in Oklahoma City.
Tennessee plays an elimination game against VCU at noon ET in the Chapel Hill Regional after dropping a 14-inning opener to ECU on Friday. Tegan Kuhns gets the start as the Vols try to keep their season alive.
East Carolina earned a hard-fought 7-3 road win over No. 12 Tennessee on Thursday in non-conference play. The Pirates pulled away for a four-run margin to hand the Volunteers a tough loss in the ESPNU matchup.
Tennessee fell 7-3 to East Carolina in the opening game of the Chapel Hill Regional, with the Pirates leaning on resilient pitching and timely hitting to take control.
Henry Ford tied the game with a ninth-inning blast off ECU's Ethan Norby, and Blake Grimmer's RBI single knotted it again in the 13th, but Tennessee couldn't complete the comeback in its tournament opener.
After dropping their regional opener, Tennessee turns to Tegan Kuhns on the mound for a win-or-go-home matchup against the loser of North Carolina and VCU.
Alabama
4 - 11
Tennessee
Alabama
0 - 10
Tennessee
Alabama
12 - 8
Tennessee
Ole Miss
5 - 13
Tennessee
Ole Miss
8 - 1
Tennessee
Ole Miss
7 - 4
Tennessee
Tennessee
7 - 2
Miss State
Tennessee
6 - 2
Miss State
Tennessee
6 - 5
Miss State
LSU
16 - 6
Tennessee
LSU
1 - 4
Tennessee
LSU
7 - 5
Tennessee
Tennessee
15 - 16
Vanderbilt
Tennessee
5 - 6
Vanderbilt
Tennessee
2 - 3
Vanderbilt
Missouri
2 - 4
Tennessee
Missouri
1 - 7
Tennessee