HOOVER, Ala. — Tennessee baseball will face off against Arkansas on Wednesday evening at the SEC Tournament. But Josh Elander is giving the ball to one of his weekend starting pitchers.
Left-handed pitcher Evan Blanco will start for the Vols against seven-seed Arkansas, Elander told the media following Tennessee’s 11-6 win over South Carolina on Tuesday night. It’s short rest for the senior Blanco who threw 99 pitches on Friday night against Oklahoma.
It seems unlikely that Blanco would turn in a long start given the short rest and the time of year. However, Elander says they currently do not have a hard pitch count for Blanco.
“I’ll get to specifics with Reyn (Josh Reynolds) but Blanco and I were talking about it off, again, how he threw at OU, he feels really, really good,” Elander said. “The guy’s an elite competitor, wants the baseball. And we’ll get into the specifics, but there’s not any kind of hard pitch count as of now that we’ve discussed.”
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Blanco enters the postseason with a 7-3 record, 4.56 ERA and 1.19 WHIP in 79 innings pitched this season. He allowed three runs in the first inning last week at Oklahoma before gritting through six innings allowing just those three runs.
Arkansas is starting right-handed pitcher Tate McGuire in its SEC Tournament opener against Tennessee. McGuire has started five games and made 18 appearances this season for the Razorbacks, posting a 4.61 ERA and 1.29 WHIP in 41 innings pitched this season.
The Vols advanced to the second round of the SEC Tournament after knocking off South Carolina 11-6 on Tuesday night. Cam Appenzeller started for Tennessee, allowing three earned runs in five innings pitched. Brayden Krenzel threw 28 pitches and Will Haas threw 33 pitches in relief.
First pitch between Tennessee and Arkansas is at approximately 5:30 p.m. ET on Wednesday evening. The SEC Network is broadcasting the game.
