KNOXVILLE — Rapid takeaways from an exciting rivalry series between Tennessee and Vanderbilt baseball, won by the Commodores (two games to one) at Lindsey Nelson Stadium:

Commodores make a statement                             

In a tight, pressure-packed series thick with intensity and NCAA Tournament implications, Vanderbilt and Tennessee split a couple of games and then played into twilight before figuring out who’d end up on top of the rivalry in Game 3.

The Commodores’ 7-5 victory in a rain-delayed Game 3 on May 11 clinched their first series win over UT since 2021 and dealt another blow to the Vols’ hopes of hosting an NCAA regional.

Tennessee — which now has lost four SEC series in a row, three of them in Knoxville — entered Sunday at No. 14 in the RPI ratings (according to D1Baseball.com), while Vanderbilt was No. 4. Neither of those numbers will guarantee (or rule out) anything on NCAA selection day May 26, though it does indicate which side needed the result more on rivalry weekend.

Although the Vols (39-13, 15-12 SEC) never led in Game 3, they kept fighting back when the Commodores (36-16, 15-12) pulled in front. Andrew Fischer’s two home runs led the charge for Tennessee.

But clutch hitting and defense showed up in this series for Vanderbilt, along with a continued increase in power for a lineup that had been lacking in that area for much of the season. Colin Barczi homered twice in Game 3. Jonathan Vastine went back-to-back with Barczi after a two-hour rain delay in the top of the sixth inning.

And freshman Mike Mancini, who’d homered once this season, went yard for an important insurance run with two outs in the top of the ninth inning.

Perhaps the best news of the weekend for Vanderbilt: Ethan McElvain closed out each of its victories. It showed that the talented pitcher could be returning to form in time to make a significant impact this postseason.

Never change, UT-Vandy baseball

This season’s series seemed relatively tame, actually, through the first two games. But the temperature did turn up a notch or two for Game 3.

When Fischer homered in the first inning off the scoreboard, he let Vanderbilt’s players hear about it as he rounded the bases. Barczi, the catcher, and others seemed to take exception, but the umpires didn’t let things get out of hand. They gathered on the diamond before appearing to issue a warning to both sides.

Soon after Fischer’s home run, Vanderbilt starter Connor Fennell threw a pitch up and inside. It struck Hunter Ensley’s bat for a foul ball. When Ensley slapped the next pitch into Vanderbilt’s dugout for another foul ball, he received boisterous cheers from the home fans.

Yup. Just another year for one of the most heated rivalries in college baseball.

Vols chase Fennell

Fennell, Vanderbilt’s fast-working Sunday starter, has been a revelation this season. He’d been on a tear until recently, and he figured to give the Commodores an advantage in the series finale.

But Tennessee’s hitters had the correct approach to drive up Fennell’s pitch count.

The Vols kept taking pitches, fouling off pitches, and going deep into pitch counts. Though Fennell allowed only one earned run in three innings, he threw 71 pitches, prompting coach Tim Corbin to go to the bullpen and send England Bryan out to start the fourth inning.

Tennessee starter Tegan Kuhns, who doesn’t typically work deep into games, ended up working longer than Fennell. Vols coach Tony Vitello pulled Kuhns after 3⅔ innings.

Neither starter ended up factoring much into how Game 3 played out.

Bold on the basepaths

The Commodores played aggressively, especially on the basepaths. During their Game 2 victory, they stole eight bases (compared to none for Tennessee), and it was a major factor in them scoring 10 runs despite having only three extra-base hits.

Game 3 started much the same, with RJ Austin reaching on a first-inning single and then getting the next three bases on a steal and two Vols throwing errors to make it 1-0.

After that, though, the Commodores got a bit too aggressive. They ran themselves out of a two-out rally in the third inning when Riley Nelson was thrown out at second base on a double steal with clean-up hitter Brodie Johnston — who’d homered in Game 1 — at the plate. Then Rustan Rigdon was caught stealing in the fifth inning.

Good showing for Russell

There was a meaningful bright spot for Tennessee in its Game 2 loss: Pitcher AJ Russell went 3⅔ solid innings in relief, striking out five. It was his longest appearance for the Vols in a game since Feb. 16, 2024, and an encouraging step in his recovery from Tommy John surgery, especially because Vitello didn’t hesitate to hand Russell a bases-loaded situation in the sixth inning.

A junior from Franklin, the 6-foot-6 Russell has long been considered a pro prospect and potentially one of the best arms in the SEC. He just hasn’t been able to stay healthy the past couple of seasons. The Vols’ postseason rotation could look a lot more formidable if Russell is a full-fledged contributor.

Quick change

As evidenced by a post on X (formerly Twitter) before the series, Vanderbilt was originally planning to wear its black jerseys with gold lettering for Game 3. But Tennessee opted to wear its black jerseys for Game 3, causing Vanderbilt to switch over to the white uniforms it wore for Game 1.

Reach Tennessean sports columnist Gentry Estes at gestes@tennessean.com and hang out with him on Bluesky @gentryestes.bsky.social