Tennessee right-handed reliever Brayden Krenzel is out for this weekend’s series against LSU due to an illness, according to the SEC Availability Report.
It’s the second straight weekend that Krenzel has missed due to illness. The freshman relief pitcher also missed last weekend’s home series against Kentucky.
Krenzel was slow to get started this season after missing the entirety of fall practice due to an injury. But he’s become a strong bullpen option for Tennessee this season, posting a 2-0 record, 1.37 WHIP and 4.12 ERA in 19.2 innings pitched this season.
His role has been greater in SEC play. Junior right-handed pitcher Nate Snead is the only Tennessee reliever that’s pitched more innings in conference play than Krenzel (13 innings pitched).
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Krenzel struggled badly against Texas A&M, allowing five earned runs in one inning pitched. But besides that, the freshman has been fantastic in SEC play. Take out his outing against Texas A&M and Krenzel has allowed just five earned runs in 12 innings pitched.
The Vols have mostly used Krenzel out of the bullpen on Sunday’s directly after starting pitcher Tegan Kuhns’ outing. Krenzel’s absence began right as Tennessee got another key arm back in the fold— AJ Russell. Last weekend in a series loss against Kentucky, Russell threw 1.2 innings out of the bullpen on Saturday pushing top reliever Nate Snead to an extended relief outing after Kuhns on Sunday.
Tennessee enters its weekend series at LSU ranked sixth nationally with a 34-7 (12-6 SEC) record. LSU ranks eighth nationally with a 34-8 (12-6 SEC) record.
First pitch for the weekend series is Friday night at 6:30 p.m. ET at Alex Box Stadium. The SEC Network+ is streaming game one while ESPU is broadcasting game two and the SEC Network is broadcasting game three.
