Senior pitcher Camden Sewell made his first start of the season Sunday in the Southeastern Conference Tournament championship game.
Tennessee defeated Florida, 8-5, at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium in Hoover, Alabama.
Sewell pitched five innings, recording one strikeout and did not allow a walk. He totaled 61 pitches with 42 strikes against 20 batters.
Following the Vols’ win against Florida, Sewell said “it meant a lot” to start in the SEC championship game.
“I wanted it to say the least, a lot,” Sewell said of starting. “I didn’t actually find out until this morning, so whenever I found out, it was like, all right, it’s time to go, and I just enjoyed every minute of it.”
Fifth-year Tennessee head coach Tony Vitello discussed how Sewell earned the start in the SEC championship game.
“A text message,” Vitello said. “I’m a big text message guy. We obviously talk on the phone a lot with recruiting, but I’ve done my fair share, actually I could tell some stories, but I’ve done my fair share, so a direct text of, “I want the ball.
“We’re fortunate. We’ve got options and then you’ve also got guys that are saying, give me the ball. As a player you’re crazy to not at least ask, but the way he did it and knowing the kid, it was what he wanted to do. Now, I’d be lying if I said the plan was to go out there and throw five innings. He already threw there for us once and also got hot in another game. We were really kind of watching that pitch count, and then too, it was nice to see him smiling at me because he was mad at me in the dugout, and he was worse than (Chase) Burns last night. Again, you’d rather have guys that want to be out there than not out there.”
[vertical-gallery id=63128]