Takeaways from Tennessee baseball's final fall exhibition vs Georgia Tech

CHATTANOOGA – Tennessee baseball’s final act of fall practice was a runaway exhibition victory over Georgia Tech.The Vols beat the Yellow Jackets 15-2 at Erlanger Park on Nov. 8, finishing their fall slate undefeated in three exhibitions. They ended their fall with a decisive result against the reigning ACC champion in front of nearly 7,500 fans getting their last looks at coach Josh Elander’s squad before the regular season begins in mid-February.Here are four takeaways from Tennessee’s final fall exhibition.Cam Appenzeller made his first — and only — exhibition appearanceSophomore Cam Appenzeller made his first exhibition appearance after missing the first few weeks of fall practice following surgery to remove his appendix. An expected starter for the 2027 season, he threw two scoreless innings with three strikeouts, two walks and a hit batter. He graded his performance by saying it “definitely wasn’t very good” but added that allowing no hits and no runs is always the goal.“With him, I’ve got the most faith of maybe anybody on the staff,” Elander said.Appenzeller has increased his velocity and added a cutter and new changeup to his repertoire. He said his cutter was reliable but he struggled locating the changeup.“It’s been good in a couple of other outings, so I’d say I can trust it,” he said. “Both those pitches will be ready soon for sure.”Tennessee’s pitching staff was effective from top to bottomIt was a complete performance from Tennessee’s pitching staff, which held Georgia Tech to just two hits.Five threw scoreless innings: sophomore Jackson Estes and freshmen Cade Allen, Gary Morse, Shawn Sullivan and Michael Teasley. Will Haas and Brady Frederick combined for a scoreless sixth after Haas was forced out of the game because his velocity was dipping. Elander said it was just a precaution and the “prognosis is he’ll be fine.”The Vols allowed eight free passes but also struck out 12, led by young arms that could push for innings in the spring. Having that depth would be a major improvement over last year’s bullpen that was searching for reliable options.“The thing I liked the most is there was a little bend, but nobody broke,” Elander said. “Maybe a walk, a base hit here and there . . . but they made good adjustments and when it starts to bleed, they put an end to it.”Chris Ramirez showed elite defensive ability at shortstopChris Ramirez showed why the Vols brought him in to be their starting shortstop. He went 2-for-3 with an RBI and was the team’s best defender.Ramirez’s ability to spark offense out of the leadoff spot is notable, but where he really shined was in the field. There’s a reason he was the two-time WAC Defensive Player of the Year before transferring from Cal Baptist.His most impressive moment came in the fifth inning, when he tracked back on a pop-up to shallow center field and came down with an over-the-shoulder catch. It was an immensely difficult play that Ramirez made look easy.“I don’t really know how I caught it,” Ramirez said. “It just kind of happened.”Andrew Duncan led a power surgeWright State transfer Andrew Duncan was one of Tennessee’s hottest hitters to start fall practice. The Vols’ expected starting center fielder then hit a brief slump but rediscovered his stroke to finish strong.Duncan hit a long home run in the fifth inning that cleared the berm in left field and landed on the concourse.It was the loudest swing on an afternoon where the offense totaled 16 hits, including two other homers by newcomers. In the ninth inning, Mercer transfer Braydon Kersey sent a pitch over the wall in left and freshman Colt Springall hit one out to right-center.Emmett Siegel covers Tennessee baseball for Knox News. Email: emmett.siegel@knoxnews.com; X: @EmmettSiegel_This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Takeaways from Tennessee baseball's final fall exhibition vs Georgia Tech