Tennessee
Texas A&M Baseball Drops Opening Game vs. Tennessee Volunteers
Texas A&M baseball fans knew that their team was facing an uphill battle as they hit the road for a weekend series against the No. 1 Tennessee Volunteers in a rematch of the 2024 College World Series.
But Friday night’s battle was like trying to climb Mount Everest with two broken legs.
The Aggies dropped below .500 Friday night in game one of the weekend series, losing in a run rule-shortened affair to the Volunteers in Knoxville, 10-0.
And to add salt to the wound, the Aggies were held to zero hits on the night, their only base runners coming on two walks by the Tennessee pitching.
One of those walks was to Jace LaViolette, who just so happened to break another Texas A&M baseball record, this one for most career walks for the Maroon and White, having taken his 141st career ball four Friday night.
The Volunteers began their scoring with a pair of home runs by first baseman Andrew Fischer, first a solo shot in the second inning, and then a three-run round-tripper the following inning, giving the Vols a 4-0 lead after three innings.
Tennessee third baseman Dean Curley would extend the lead with a solo home run in the fifth inning, giving the top-ranked team a 5-0 advantage leading into the sixth inning, which is where Tennessee sealed the deal on the night.
After two RBI singles by shortstop Ariel Antigua and designated hitter Dalton Bargo, center fielder Hunter Ensley put the dagger in the visiting team with a three-run home run, giving the reigning national champions a 10-0 lead.
The Aggies would go down in order in the top of the seventh, resulting in their first run-ruling of the season.
Many might believe that the team used up all their offense in their most recent midweek game against Incarnate Word, where they scored an incredible 21 runs, which could easily cover two games, but it had to be known that the top-ranked team in the nation was not going to be just another game on the schedule.
Due to inclement weather scheduled to be in the Knoxville area over the weekend, the final two games of the series will be a doubleheader Saturday. Game one will be at 2:00 p.m. and game two will follow up at 6:00 p.m. Both games will be available on SEC Network.
Redshirt freshman kicker Grady Dangerfield enters his second season at Tennessee in 2026.
The 6-foot, 215-pound kicker appeared in two games for the Vols in 2025. He recorded 257 yards and three touchbacks on four kickoff attempts against UAB and New Mexico State.
Against the Blazers on Sept. 20, 2025, Dangerfield had three kickoff attempts for 195 yards. He also totaled 62 kickoff yards on one attempt versus New Mexico State on Nov. 15, 2025.
Dangerfield committed to Tennessee in Oct. 2024 over Navy and Virginia Tech. He was a Kohl’s Kicking five-star prospect and the No. 41 ranked kicker in the nation.
Dangerfield went to the Vols from James Island Charter High School in Charleston, South Carolina.
Tennessee will kick off its 2026 football season Sept. 5 versus Furman at Neyland Stadium. The season opener is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. EDT (SEC Network+).
The Vols will also host Kennesaw State, Texas, Auburn, Alabama, Kentucky and LSU, while playing at Georgia Tech, Arkansas, South Carolina, Texas A&M and Vanderbilt during the 2026 campaign.
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Tennessee
Tennessee AMC theater worker, 85, receives $146K from strangers for retirement after viral video
A viral Tennessee movie theater worker, 85, was surprised with $146K as strangers rallied together to help her “enjoy retirement.”
Mary Ellen Eron was seen hauling a heavy black garbage bag and pushing a cleaning cart during her shift at the theater in Maryville, Tenn., which has since been viewed more than 13 million times.
“Let’s secretly help retire this beautiful woman. No one deserves to work at this age,” movie customer Brooklyn Green, who filmed the video, captioned the post.
Green launched a fundraiser last weekend after watching Mary, who has been a movie theater staffer for 45 years, hard at work – even though she’s a stranger.
“I knew nothing about her. I didn’t even know her name when I went to the theater,” Green told WATE reported. “I just decided that she was working so hard, and I aspired to be like her one day.
“Her physical appearance didn’t look too comfortable, especially since the way she was working so hard.”
Green set a target of $200,000 – and she raised $146,317 before pausing donations. More than 7,500 people donated to the charitable cause.
On Wednesday, Green posted the moment that she presented Eron, who helps the homeless and her local church, with the total figures from the crowdfunding page.
“Oh my goodness. That’s a lot of money,” Eron said as she realized the number on the piece of paper.
“That’s a lot of money and you deserve every bit of it,” Green said.
The clip also featured a message from Eron, who addressed the people who had contributed.
“Thank you so very much to all the wonderful people that have donated money to the GoFundMe,” she said.
“I’m overwhelmed and certainly blessed by the Lord and you wonderful people. Thank you once more.”
The theater’s manager revealed it will be Eron’s decision when she retires.
The Tennessee Volunteers have had their fair share of bad news as of late when it comes to the college baseball transfer portal, but luckily, they have received some great news.
The great news that they have received is that they will be returning one of their breakout stars from this past college baseball season, as he has no intentions of entering the college baseball transfer portal.
Trent Grindlinger Will Return to Tennessee
The player who is set to return to Tennessee is Trent Grindlinger, who was electric this season and is expected to be a future top 10 MLB draft pick. This is expected for the first draft that he is eligible for, which is the 2027 MLB Draft rather than this upcoming draft that will feature multiple Vols, including Tennessee ACE, Tegan Kuhns.
Grindlinger finished last season with a batting average of .345, while hitting eight home runs and only striking out 28 times. This would be an electric season for the talented Volunteers’ batter, and he is set for a season that could and should be even better than that, which would be good enough to consider for some major college baseball end-of-the-season awards. He is just one of the few players who opted to stay and return rather than enter their name into the college baseball transfer portal, but if they were going to return anyone, he is the player they would want to return in the field.
Had he entered the transfer portal, there wouldn’t be a single college in the nation that wouldn’t want to add him, as every college would want to add the elite prospect. Not only that, but he would become the nation’s No. 1 player on the portal more than likely.
Luckily for the Vols, though, they don’t have to worry about that.
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