Tennessee baseball kicked off the start of the Josh Elander era in style with a series sweep of Nicholls where the Vols outscored the Colonels by 24 runs on the opening weekend of play from Lindsey Nelson Stadium.

The Vols saw little movement in the national polls on Monday but did slide up one slot in the D1 Baseball poll from No. 14 to No. 13. Tennessee remained at No. 13 in the Baseball America poll and No. 3 in the Perfect Game rankings. The updated National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association and USA TODAY Coaches Polls have not been released, where the Vols opened the season at No. 15 in both.  

Tennessee’s starting trio of Tegan Kuhns, Landon Mack and Evan Blanco were great to begin the season. The trio allowed a combined one run and 11 hits over 17.2 innings pitched with 26 strikeouts and four walks. Blaine Brown was a star at the plate, going 8-for-14 with three home runs, five RBI, seven runs scored and one walk in three games.

The Vols return to action on Tuesday against UNC Asheville with a 4 p.m. ET first pitch time. Tennessee then hosts Kent state for a weekend series at Lindsey Nelson Stadium beginning on Friday. The Vols are in Arlington at Glove Life Field for the Amegy Bank College Baseball Series from Feb. 27-March 1.

Tennessee in the weekly polls

Perfect Game: No. 3 (-)
Baseball America: No. 13 (-)
D1 Baseball: No. 13 (+1)
USA TODAY Coaches Poll: No. 15 preseason (not yet updated)
NCBWA: No. 15 preseason (not yet updated)