Tennessee

Inside Gavin Kilen’s home run surge to open Tennessee baseball season

Published

1 year ago

February 28, 2025

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Inside Gavin Kilen’s home run surge to open Tennessee baseball season

HOUSTON — There were no fans sitting in the upper deck in right field at Daikin Park on Friday.

That was for the better.

Gavin Kilen clobbered a ball that cleared the first deck and caromed off the first row of the second deck. He gazed as it rose, flipped his bat end over and and smacked his chest toward the Tennessee baseball dugout as the mammoth homer whistled skyward with a message for any MLB scouts paying attention.

“That I can hit,” Kilen said.

Kilen has always hit. He is doing more with the Vols. The second baseman is smashing homers like he has never done before, adding to his already enticing professional profile with a helping of power.

His two-homer game in Tennessee’s 5-2 win against Oklahoma State on Friday in the Houston Astros’ ballpark was the latest example. The sweet-swinging lefty went way deep to right in the first inning. He dinged his second homer to left field into the Crawford Boxes in the fourth.

Kilen has five homers in nine games for the No. 1 Vols (9-0) and has homered in three straight games. He hit nine in 54 games at Louisville last season when he homered once every 23.8 at-bats. He is homering every 5.4 at-bats this season.

“For me, he has the ability to drive the ball,” Vols coach Tony Vitello said. “Call that power if you want.”

Kilen, who is rated as MLB.com’s No. 28 prospect for the 2025 MLB Draft, showed flashes of his homer-filled start to the season.

Pitcher Liam Doyle witnessed the potential in the fall when Kilen consistently hit the ball hard.

Vitello saw it on video and then in batting practice after he transferred to Tennessee from Louisville. He doesn’t see it as purely power, though. He thinks Kilen’s sudden homer surge is a credit to a well-crafted swing.

“I think Gavin’s is a real fundamental swing that has been trained in the cage,” Vitello said. “So he is in a good position to strike the ball as well as he can. He is strong enough.

“I think it is more the precision over power if you want.”

Whatever you label it, it is working and it is only boosting Kilen’s MLB Draft outlook in July.

The 5-foot-11, 187-pound Kilen had 10 extra-base hits as a freshman at Louisville without a homer. He had 35 with nine homers last season as a sophomore. He has eight so far at Tennessee with a pair of triples and a double to go with the five home runs.

Kilen has a similar refrain to many who have joined the Vols in recent seasons: He credits nutritionist Beth Schwartz and strength coach Quentin Eberhardt with helping him change his body. He has gained more than 10 pounds of muscle since arriving at Tennessee.

“I just think that has fundamentally changed everything for me,” Kilen said.

Kilen didn’t care to declare his home run streak perception-changing with scouts. Scouts will decide whatever they want to about him. He plans to keep showing up and doing his job to help the Vols win, which includes a hefty dose of hitting.

The ball that careened into the upper deck at Daikin Park on Friday can speak for itself.

Mike Wilson covers University of Tennessee athletics. Email him at michael.wilson@knoxnews.com and follow him on X @ByMikeWilson or Bluesky @bymikewilson.bsky.social. If you enjoy Mike’s coverage, consider a digital subscription that will allow you access to all of it.

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Tennessee

Memphis voters file federal lawsuit against new congressional map, claiming discrimination: ‘White control over Tennessee politics’

Published

3 hours ago

May 12, 2026

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Memphis voters file federal lawsuit against new congressional map, claiming discrimination: ‘White control over Tennessee politics’

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (WSMV) – Three Memphis voters, through the American Civil Liberties Union, have filed a federal lawsuit against Tennessee leaders, claiming the state’s new congressional maps are discriminating against Black voters.

The ACLU announced the lawsuit on Monday, saying that three organizations — the Black Clergy Collaborative of Memphis, the Memphis A. Philip Randolph Institute and the Equity Alliance, are also part of the lawsuit that was filed against Sec. of State Tre Hargett, Coordinator of Elections Mark Goins and several others.

“In May 2026, over the course of mere days, a White-dominated supermajority of the Tennessee General Assembly redrew Tennessee’s congressional map to crack the predominantly Black city of Memphis into three pieces and destroy the only district in which Black voters are able to elect representatives of their choice, shutting Black voters completely out of power in federal elections in Tennessee,” the filing states.

The ACLU and the other plaintiffs echo arguments made by Democrats while the maps were being debated during last week’s special session: “The cracking of Memphis unlawfully targeted Black voters.”

“The new plan carves through the center of Tennessee’s second largest city, dividing neighborhoods that have voted together for decades, splitting numerous counties and precincts, and cutting the Black population into thirds with suspect precision,” the lawsuit says. “The districts then run hundreds of miles east towards the Nashville suburbs, snaking through predominantly White and rural counties to dilute the voting power of now-divided Black Memphians.”

Gov. Bill Lee signed the new congressional map into law last week. The new map splits Shelby County, home of Memphis, into three districts.

Republicans have said the map modernizes the districting process and removes “racial data from the mapmaking process entirely.” Democrats, on the other hand, say that the move is meant to dismantle the Black-majority district.

Tennessee Speaker of the House Cameron Sexton (R) told WSMV that Republicans “have been very clear” on their intention to secure a ninth Republican seat in the state. He has said the map would help “ensure the state’s representation in Washington reflects its conservative values.”

The lawsuit draws significant attention to the racial makeup of Tennessee lawmakers, describing, “White control over Tennessee politics.” Plaintiffs allege that a white majority “faction” of state leaders “gave bizarre, robotic answers to the most basic questions about the map they were sponsoring.”

“None of the sponsors of the plan would admit who actually drew it, and the lead Senate sponsor—a White legislator with over a decade of service in the Tennessee General Assembly who had attended law school in Memphis — would not say whether Memphis was predominantly Black and claimed not to know that Congressional District 9 was a majority- Black district,” the filing says.

They seem to be referencing Sen. John Stevens (R-Huntingdon), who was asked during the special session if he was aware that the majority of the residents in the ninth district are Black.

“I’m not aware,” he responded. “I know how the map is divided, but I don’t know the racial makeup of the map.”

Stevens got his juris doctorate from the University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law.

The three Memphis residents who took part in the lawsuit are Amber Sherman, a lifelong resident of Memphis and the lead Tennessee regional organizer for Black Voters Matter Fund, Rachael Spriggs, a Memphis resident for more than 20 years who is the director of Power Building for the Equity Alliance, and Kermit Moore, a nearly lifelong resident of Memphis who is the president of the Memphis A. Philip Randolph Institute.

The lawsuit claims intentional discrimination in violation of the 14th and 15th Amendments, as well as retaliation for protected expression and association in violation of the First Amendment.

Plaintiffs are asking the court to declare that the newly drawn map is unconstitutional and restore district lines before primary elections proceed.

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New Tennessee law allows K9 officers to be transported by helicopter, ambulance to vet

Published

15 hours ago

May 11, 2026

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New Tennessee law allows K9 officers to be transported by helicopter, ambulance to vet

Tennessee State Senators Michele Reneau of Signal Mountain and Bo Watson of Hixson spoke today about the new law supporting police K-9’s.

The act allows injured dogs to get stabilization services on-site and then be transported via ambulance or helicopter to a vet hospital.

“In the past, officers were basically putting the k9 in their car and transporting them in their in their own vehicle, they didn’t have an ambulance or an air ambulance,” said Senator Watson. “This allows for an air ambulance. It also allows for a educational program for those in EMS, who will be taught how to manage canines emergency medical condition, which is different than a human’s.”

In April, Erlanger flew a K9 officer from Clay County, to North Carolina.

It was the first time the program was used for a live transport after several training runs.

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Tennessee

What You Need to Know About Tennessee Softball’s Path to Another WCWS | Rocky Top Insider

Published

1 day ago

May 11, 2026

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What You Need to Know About Tennessee Softball’s Path to Another WCWS | Rocky Top Insider

Tennessee softball’s path back to the Women’s College World Series is set. On Sunday night, the Lady Vols were named the No. 7 overall seed in the 2026 NCAA Tournament and will host the regional stage in Knoxville as it looks to return to the WCWS in back-to-back seasons.

The Lady Vols are matched up with Virginia, Indiana and Northern Kentucky in the regionals. It would play Georgia, Clemson, UNC Greensboro or Charleston in the super regionals.

Ahead of the tournament, here’s a look at each team in the Knoxville Regional and potential matchups for the ensuing best-of-three super regional if Tennessee advances.