HOOVER, Ala. — Tennessee baseball head coach Tony Vitello found Zander Sechrist’s AirPods that he lost in the locker room.
Vitello hopes that will cancel out the fact that Sechrist got fully warmed up on Friday but never entered the game. Vitello went with other arms out of the bullpen to piece together a 6-5 win over Mississippi State and earn the Vols another game in Hoover.
The situation makes the pitching plan murky for the No. 1 seeded Vols heading into Saturday’s rematch with No. 8 seed Vanderbilt at approximately 4 p.m. ET.
“We had him hot before we tied the game, I was looking out for him more than anything,” Vitello said. “Again, maybe poor execution on my part, or, we had him hot ready to go, because I did not want to leave here without him throwing at least an inning or even at least to a hitter.
“We’ll see where he’s at. It’s not like he can’t pitch tomorrow. We’ll see where he’s at. There’s not a whole lot left in general, so we’ll kind of probably attack tomorrow in a different way.”
Sechrist has yet to throw in the SEC Tournament. So far, it has been a group effort for the Vols on the mound. There are a couple names to cross of the available list for certain.
One of those is Drew Beam, who worked 4.2 innings against Mississippi State and made it through 4.1 hitless against the Bulldogs.
Another arm that will be unavailable is AJ Causey. Causey threw 68 pitches against Texas A&M on Thursday on the way to a win. The righty is a key piece to the Vols success, and there is no reason to push him after an extended appearance.
READ MORE: What Tony Vitello said about fifth-inning squabble with Mississippi State in SEC Tournament
The same can be said for Chris Stamos, who also worked extended innings against Texas A&M. He could be available for a limited stint if Tennessee made it to Sunday, but he will likely be unavailable against Vanderbilt.
As for the rest of the bullpen, most of the arms should be available. That leaves Vitello with a lot of options and could set up another bullpen game — like the first time the Vols faced the Commodores in the SEC Tournament.
Tennessee used eight pitchers in the SEC Tournament opener against Vanderbilt. It was a whole-staff effort, but it wasn’t a successful one. The eight arms combines to give up 15 hits and 13 earned runs. There were bright spots to take away from the game, though.
AJ Russell made his return in the first matchup, and he could pitch again in the second. Vitello has made it clear they won’t push Russell in his return from injury. He could help the Vols in a short stint. Kirby Connell has pitched everyday in Hoover, and he could continue his streak against Vanderbilt.
The game, if Sechrist is unable to go, will turn into bullpen game with a lot of reliance on younger arms, like Dylan Loy or Matthew Dallas. Whatever the plan is, even Vitello seemed unsure heading into Saturday.
“Get some rest and then we’ll kind of see where we’re at,” Vitello said. “Like I said, maybe we’ll attack the thing of a little bit of a unique fashion.”
