HOOVER, Ala. — Tennessee is returning to Hoover, Alabama to play in the SEC Tournament for the first time since 2016. Very few players on this Tennessee team were on that team, and even fewer played a big role. It will be a new experience for nearly everyone on this roster, as the Vols look to make a run and further solidify their NCAA Tournament chances.
Tennessee will enter the tournament as the No. 9 seed, its highest since the 2007 when the Vols were the No. 8 seed. Tennessee will face Auburn at 4:30 p.m. CT Tuesday in the opening round of the tournament for a chance to face Vanderbilt. Mississippi State, LSU, and South Carolina, who round out Tennessee’s side of the bracket.
Auburn’s two best arms, Jack Owen and Tanner Burns, pitched on Friday and Saturday in Baton Rouge, so who will the Tigers turn to on the mound?
Auburn has started seven different pitchers in SEC games this season due to Owen being injured for part of the season. The Tigers also struggled to find a third starter.
The Tigers will go with Elliot Anderson, a left handed junior from Cartersville, Georgia.
Anderson has started two SEC games for the Tigers this year, including a loss to LSU last Thursday, but has seen most of his work come out of the bullpen.
The lefty pitched twice in the Tennessee series, combining for 1.2 innings, allowing no runs on two hits and a pair of walks.
Anderson ended the regular season with a 5-2 record and a 4.18 ERA, though the ERA drops to 4.98 in SEC play.
Auburn’s lineup is balanced with no huge bats, but they do have five players hitting over .270, and eight players with between 25 and 45 RBIs.
Garrett Stallings, the co-SEC Pitcher of the Week, will get the ball for Tennessee on Tuesday afternoon. Stallings pitched a gem against Ole Miss on Thursday by throwing a complete game shutout
Stallings will be pitching on four days of rest opposed to the normal six, but he will look to improve on his already stellar junior campaign.
If Tennessee can pick up the first-round win over Auburn, it would be the program’s first in the SEC Tournament since 2007. The task won’t get any easier if they do as the Vols would face the SEC regular season champion, Vanderbilt, on Wednesday at 4:30 p.m.
The Commodores went 23-7 in SEC play, including taking two out of three over the Vols in Nashville.
Sean Hunley, Camden Sewell, and Will Neely have all started games this year and are possible options for Vitello to turn to against Vanderbilt.
Neely hasn’t pitched since May 7th against Austin Peay and appears to have fallen to the back of the Vols bullpen.
Sewell and Hunley have played large roles in Tennessee’s pitching staff down the stretch and will likely continue to in postseason play, especially after Garrett Crochet broke his jaw.
Sewell threw 46 pitches and Hunley threw 19 in Friday’s win over Ole Miss. Hunley saw action again in Saturday’s loss throwing 12 pitches, so both pitchers should fully be available if needed on Wednesday.
In SEC play, Sewell has a record of 0-1 with a 3.00 ERA while Hunley counters with a 1-0 record and 1.98 ERA
Vanderbilt is first or second in the SEC in nearly every offensive category and can light up the scoreboard in a hurry. It will be a difficult task for whoever gets the ball if Tennessee gets past Auburn and would likely be a major team effort against the Commodores.
A win against Vanderbilt would send Tennessee to the winner’s bracket final in its half of the SEC Tournament, where as a loss would mean Tennessee would have to win four straight games to make it to the championship game.
Before all of that, Tennessee has to take care of Auburn, something that proved to be a difficult task earlier this season, but I’m not sure either of these teams are the same as they were in March.
Play at the Hoover Met will begin at 9:30 a.m. on Tuesday.
