Tony Vitello details status of Zander Sechrist for Evansville series finale

Tennessee baseball head coach Tony Vitello discusses the status of pitcher Zander Sechrist against Evansville on Sunday.

No. 1 national seed Tennessee and Evansville will conclude a best-of-three series on Sunday at Lindsey Nelson Stadium. First pitch between the Vols and Purple Aces is slated for 6 p.m. EDT and will be televised by ESPNU.

Tennessee head coach Tony Vitello discussed pitcher Zander Sechrist’s status for game No. 3 in the Knoxville Super Regional. Sechrist’s last appearance was June 2 against Southern Miss in the Knoxville Regional. He was hit in the back of his leg by a line drive during the contest.

“He’s good,” Vitello said. “He, obviously, took that shot pretty good and was bruised the next day, but that Monday it was all laughs. I don’t think it was laughs for him when it occurred, and I’m sure it stiffened up at some point. That’s kind of been a non-issue for the week.

“That’s our guy in the locker room. That’s our guy on the field. He has the ball, and we’ll worry about the rest later. I don’t think we’ve done anything to gas anybody out this particular weekend.”

Sechrist pitched 4.2 innings in Tennessee’s win against Southern Miss. He recorded three strikeouts and allowed three hits, four hits and three walks. Sechrist totaled 70 pitches, including 45 strikes, against 21 batters.

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Photo by Dan Harralson, Vols Wire