Wednesday was the sort of outing you dream about as a pitcher for Tennessee’s Zander Sechrist. The senior left-hander bought the decision for the Volunteers and was tasked with slowing down Florida State with a spot within the Males’s Faculty World Sequence Last on the road.
For six innings, Sechrist did precisely that.
Going through a Seminoles lineup that hung 11 runs on the Volunteers earlier this week and had mashed all season lengthy — Florida State posted a Slugging Share of .559 this season (seventh within the nation) and an OPS of .974 (sixth within the nation) — the left-hander saved Florida State scoreless by way of six innings of labor. Sechrist confirmed full command of the strike zone, inserting an array of fastballs and sharp-breaking balls nearly anyplace he needed to. With a few of these breaking balls topping out within the low 80s and even higher 70s, the Florida State hitters have been saved off-balance for the primary six innings of the sport.
By the point the Seminoles lastly bought to Sechrist for a pair of solo house runs within the seventh inning, the Volunteers’ potent offense had put six runs on the board, spurred on by a three-run first inning. Tennessee added one other run within the second, and yet one more within the third when Christian Moore — who made MCWS historical past earlier within the week when he turned simply the second participant ever to hit for the cycle — ripped a triple down the right-field line, bringing catcher Cal Stark round to attain from first:
And whereas the Seminoles made it attention-grabbing with the 2 solo house runs within the seventh, Blake Burke added an insurance coverage run for Tennessee with this absolute bomb to right-center:
However the headlines belong to Sechrist, who completed the day giving the Volunteers 6.1 innings of strong work, permitting only a pair of runs whereas hanging out three.
Earlier this week Tennessee head coach Tony Vitello talked about Sechrist getting this chance, and the way Vitello was “excited” to see the left-hander on the bump.
“We’re actually excited,” Vitello mentioned. “That is the man that has the power to pitch on the weekend, which he’s achieved that and helped pitch our workforce to Omaha, which he did final yr as effectively. I imply, it’s so essential each sport that you simply play. And he’s logged a ton of innings for us in his profession with us and simply been a very good chief and a very good teammate as effectively.
“I don’t wish to name it gravy or something like that, however now it’s time to benefit from the alternative for him to compete after which for us to benefit from the alternative to observe him compete whereas on the similar time simply sort of managing the sport as greatest we see match.”
Sechrist made managing the sport simpler for Vitello, because of his outing on Wednesday.
Now the Volunteers will wait to see who they are going to face within the Males’s Faculty World Sequence Finals, between the winner of the Texas A&M-Florida matchup. The Aggies simply want one win to advance, whereas the Gators want two straight wins to make a return look within the Finals.
