HOOVER — Tennessee baseball was without senior standout Reese Chapman in its 11-6 SEC Tournament opening victory over South Carolina on Tuesday night. Chapman suffered a face injury during the Vols’ Monday practice in Hoover when a line drive struck him in the face.
“We were just running out to practice here at the Met getting the guys ready,” Elander said Tuesday. “Outfield is running around, and it was just kind of a freak accident — a ball got hit and it clipped him in the right spot. And we were with him last night over at UAB and I think the staff here did a phenomenal job making sure he was in the best of hands. Woody did a great job.
“He’s back in Knoxville tonight, and he’s going to get that thing worked on, as far as the actual timeline of what we’re looking at, I’m just glad Reese is in good spirits and we’ll see how it plays out over the next few days.”
Elander did not rule out Chapman playing later in the week at the SEC Tournament which seemingly bodes well for his chances go play in the NCAA Tournament next week. Either way, the damage does not appear as bad as originally feared.
“It was a pretty scary moment,” Elander said. “But thank goodness he seems to be in a better spot than what we thought from the beginning.”
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With Chapman out of the lineup in Tennessee’s win over South Carolina, freshman Nate Eisfelder started in right field while Jay Abernathy started at second base, Blake Grimmer at first base and Levi Clark at catcher.
Late in the game, Ariel Antigua entered at second base while Abernathy moved to centerfield and Garrett Wright to right field. If Stone Lawless returns to the lineup behind the plate on Wednesday, Tennessee could start Abernathy in centerfield and Wright in right field.
The senior outfielder exited the regular season red-hot at the plate after hitting six-for-13 with three extra-base hits and four RBIs in Tennessee’s series victory over Oklahoma over the weekend.
After a solid junior season as a full-time starter, Chapman has perhaps been Tennessee’s best hitter in his senior season. Over the course of the regular season, Chapman slashed .316/.422/.577 with 10 home runs, 19 doubles, one triple and 44 RBIs.
Chapman was also very productive in SEC play, slashing .306/.391/.603 with seven home runs, 13 doubles, one triple and 26 RBIs.
Tennessee is back in action at the SEC Tournament on Wednesday evening in Hoover when they face seven-seed South Carolina. First pitch is at approximately 5:30 p.m. ET with the SEC Network broadcasting the game.
