No. 10 seed Texas A&M (33-23, 14-16 SEC) defeated No. 7 Tennessee (38-19, 16-14 SEC), 3-0, Tuesday in the Southeastern Conference Tournament at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium in Hoover, Alabama.
The Aggies eliminated Tennessee in the single-elimination first-round of the SEC Tournament.
Troy Wansing (3-3) pitched eight innings for Texas A&M. He recorded seven strikeouts, allowing one hit and zero walks. Wansing faced 25 Tennessee batters, throwing 95 pitches — 66 of them strikes.
Christian Scott recorded the Vols’ only hit.
“I have a lot of respect for Tennessee,” Texas A&M head coach Jim Schlossnagle said after the game. “They’re an aggressive swinging team. I think the general game plan, they can really hit against anybody, but their numbers are a lot better, especially their extra-base hit numbers are a lot better against right-handed pitching than they are against left-handed pitching, even the right-handed hitters. This is certainly a different ballpark and different environment than their ballpark. That’s not to say they can’t beat our rear ends. That’s an Omaha team. It’s an Omaha team. They just have to go play like it.
“There were times when Troy would scatter a couple and then 2-0 count or something and they were swinging early in the count, and that helped them pitch deeper into the game. As we got toward the end where he was running out of gas and I’m just riding him as long as I can ride him, he was a batter away from coming out in the last couple innings, but they hit those liners right at us, a couple to shortstop, one to third base, the ball up the middle that we had (Austin) Bost positioned when (Griffin) Merritt hit the ball. It was outstanding pitching, but also we had some things go our way today for sure.”
Tennessee completed a series sweep versus Texas A&M March 24-26 at Lindsey Nelson Stadium.
The Vols now await their destination in the NCAA Tournament.
The NCAA Tournament selection show will take place May 29 at noon EDT and can be watched on ESPN2.
Tennessee is projected to play in the Charlottesville Regional, hosted by Virginia, in the NCAA Tournament. Texas A&M is projected to play in the Austin Regional, hosted by Texas.
The entire NCAA Tournament regional projections can be viewed here.
Tony Vitello recaps Tennessee’s performance in 2023 SEC Tournament
PHOTOS: Tennessee baseball sweeps Texas A&M at Lindsey Nelson Stadium