Tennessee baseball could be in line to get one of its top players back as it prepares for the rematch of last season’s College World Series final series this weekend in Knoxville.
The top-ranked Vols (27-2, 8-1 SEC) have avoided the championship hangovers that have plagued recent defending champs while preseason No. 1 Texas A&M has struggled badly to this point in the season and enters the weekend series 14-14 (1-8 SEC).
Tony Vitello’s eighth Tennessee team could be getting more good news this week as star second baseman Gavin Kilen is nearing a return to the starting lineup.
Kilen hasn’t started for the Vols in their last eight games due to a hamstring injury that he suffered in Tennessee’s loss against Tennessee Tech, though he did pinch hit once in the Vols’ series win at South Carolina. According to Vitello, Kilen could be close to returning to the lineup in some capacity.
“I think right now, the thing for us is to get Gavin (Kilen) in the lineup, and then probably next would be defense,” Vitello said. “I don’t know if it will come together.”
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If getting in the lineup and playing defense don’t come together then Kilen will likely return to the lineup as a designated hitter. A Louisville transfer, Kilen has been one of Tennessee’s best hitters to this point in the season. The left-handed hitter is batting .425 with 10 home runs, 17 extra-base hits and 25 RBIs. Kilen leads the Vols in both batting average and on-base percentage.
With Kilen out of the lineup, freshman Manny Marin has moved to second base, Dean Curley has moved to third base and Ariel Antigua has jumped in the lineup as the starting shortstop. Antigua has changed games with his defense at shortstop and has been solid at the plate making it difficult for Vitello to write the lineup card when Kilen returns.
That challenge will be even greater if Kilen returns to the lineup at designated hitter. Junior Dalton Bargo has been starting at DH for Tennessee and is red-hot at the plate. Taking Bargo out of the lineup presently would be very difficult. The left-handed bat can play either third base or left field.
“It’s an unselfish group on offense, and there’s also a lot of interchangeable parts,” Vitello said of the challenge. “(Dalton) Bargo [is] example number one. You can kind of stick him wherever you want and expect them to show up and play ball.”
First pitch for Tennessee baseball’s weekend series against Texas A&M is at 7 p.m. ET on Friday night. ESPNU is broadcasting the game.
