The Southeastern Conference baseball tournament and the NCAA baseball tournament are very different entities when it comes to the approach, but Tennessee has been very successful in both.
Tennessee is the only program nationally to reach the super regional round in each of the last five NCAA tournaments, advancing to the College World Series three times in that stretch and claiming the 2024 national championship. The Volunteers are also 13-5 in the past five SEC tournaments, earning titles in 2022 and 2024 and a runner-up finish to Arkansas in 2021.
The Vols went 2-1 in SEC tournament play last May, which included a 7-5 topping of top-seeded Texas in 12 innings during the quarterfinals.
“It’s just about going and competing this time of year,” Tennessee first-year coach Josh Elander said Monday during a press conference. “Anytime you can get more reps going into the postseason, it’s a big deal. It’s a quick turnaround from this past weekend, but we just want to get better down there and let the guys enjoy the environment.
“I think it’s one of the best weeks of the year.”
Tennessee finished the regular season with a 37-19 overall record that included a 15-15 mark in SEC contests. The Vols are seeded 10th in the 16-team extravaganza in Hoover, Alabama, and they will open play Tuesday afternoon (5:30 Eastern on the SEC Network) against 15th-seeded South Carolina (22-34, 7-23).
The winner of that pairing will advance to play Wednesday (5:30 on the SEC Network) against seventh-seeded Arkansas (36-19, 17-13).
Elander revealed that freshman left-hander Cam Appenzeller will get Tuesday’s start. The 6-foot-5, 195-pounder from Chatham, Illinois, went 5-1 with a 4.84 earned run average in 17 appearances during the regular season, but his only start occurred April 28 against West Georgia inside Lindsey Nelson Stadium.
“He’s a guy we’re excited about,” Elander said. “He likes the big moment, and that’s a really cool venue, but we want to make sure our pitching is in a good spot going into next week.”
Elander would not commit to anything past Appenzeller when it came to pitching plans for Wednesday should the Vols advance. He was asked about Tegan Kuhns, who started on a Friday two weeks ago against Texas and a Thursday last week against Oklahoma, which means that a Wednesday start would be his second straight from a six-day rest standpoint.
Landon Mack, a starter who sat out the past two series with arm soreness, will be on Tennessee’s 34-man travel roster, according to Elander, but his availability remains uncertain.
This week’s SEC tournament will use the Automated Ball-Strike System that has been implemented in Major League Baseball. The ABS system will not be employed for the NCAA tournament.
“I think it’s a cool idea, and I’m just excited to see the strategy and how people use it,” Elander said. “They’re actually going to measure our players, which is kind of cool, so it will be a little different experience for them. It’s cool that the SEC continues to be at the forefront, whether it be the double base or implementing stuff like this.
“We’re all for anything that they’re doing at the big-league level, because that’s where our guys want to end up eventually.”
When asked whether certain players will have ABS challenging rights over others, Elander said, “I think it’s just having some feel in the moment. An 0-0 pitch is different from an 0-2 pitch or a 1-2 pitch. The older guys may have a little better feel for that, but all our guys are capable of making those decisions.”
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The SEC tournament has a single-elimination format and opens Tuesday morning and runs through Sunday afternoon. The top four seeds receiving byes into Thursday’s quarterfinals are Georgia (43-12, 23-7), Texas (40-12, 19-10), Texas A&M (39-13, 19-10) and Alabama (37-18, 18-12).
Chapman sidelined
Vols senior right fielder Reese Chapman was struck in the face by a line drive during Monday’s practice at Hoover Met and has been ruled out of Tuesday’s game.
Chapman, who is hitting .316 with 10 home runs and 44 RBIs, was taken to UAB Hospital for evaluation.
Leavell commits
Tennessee has its eighth football commitment for the 2027 signing cycle and the fifth from the Volunteer State, receiving a nonbinding pledge Monday night from Brandon Leavell of Goodpasture Christian School in Madison.
The 6-foot-1, 165-pounder is a three-star athlete prospect.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com.