Tennessee shortstop Maui Ahuna out again vs. Florida
Tennessee baseball is missing shortstop Maui Ahuna for a second straight game. The Vols are starting Austin Jaslove at shortstop and batting him ninth in the lineup against No. 3 Florida in the series finale Saturday afternoon at Lindsey Nelson Stadium.
Ahuna was a late scratch Friday night before Tennessee’s 9-3 loss to Florida. The Vols are looking to avoid the series sweep at home after losing 6-1 Thursday night.
Tony Vitello said Friday night that Ahuna was questionable for Saturday’s series finale while dealing with “some discomfort.”
“From what I know and I’ll go in there right after this and see what our assessment is for tomorrow,” Vitello said. H”e’s been kind of fighting some discomfort. I mentioned on the television broadcast that there was a play I thought he would make and it was kind of like, ‘oh yeah, he’s not moving as well as he can’ and tonight it kind of reached a breaking point.
“I don’t know if the weather or the grind of the last few days of him battling through that got to him, but I got word that he was a no-go and needed to switch things on the fly. So, I got to it as fast as I can. I don’t want to say back and be wrong, but something on the back-side of his body.”
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Ahuna is hitting .288 with an .872 OPS this season, starting 21 times in 22 games.
Tennessee is starting right-hander Drew Beam (3-1) against Florida lefty Jac Caglianone (3-0). Caglianone has a 4.18 ERA in 32 1/3 innings in seven starts. Caglianone bats second in the Gator lineup hitting .403 in 31 games, with 18 home runs, 47 RBI and nine doubles.
Ahuna was a prized transfer addition for the Vols from Kansas.
After Friday night’s loss, the Vols have dropped three of their first four SEC series of the season, getting swept at Missouri and losing two of three against LSU.
Ahuna went through pregame on Friday before being ruled out.
“He was penciled in [to the lineup originally], but at some point during pregame – the other coaches, as I was with the outfielders, the other coaches recognized on the infield that it just wasn’t what it needed to be,” Vitello said during an in-game TV interview. “They had a conversation with him and then our trainer told us he couldn’t go.
“Rather than give you a Bill Belichick answer, I’ll at least tell you it is something to do with the backside of his body. I honestly don’t know. I just knew we had to scramble and change our pregame stuff and come up with a new lineup. Last night he had a play in the six-hole he normally makes. So, he’s been ailing a little bit for a few days and battling through it. But tonight, we have to go with the guys we have out there.”