Tennessee controlled the game from start to finish taking an early 1-0 and then 3-0 lead before leaning on another great pitching performance to secure the win.
Tennessee 4 8 1
Florida 0 4 1
W — Camden Sewell, L — Brandon Sproat
Notes
Camden Sewell had been really good his last few appearances, allowing just two earned runs in his last 15 innings pitched entering today. The junior was outstanding against Florida, allowing only two hits and three baserunners in six scoreless innings. Sewell struck out six while allowing just one baserunner to reach scoring position. Sewell’s emergence and outing today seem to make him a clear candidate to be a fourth starter in next week’s regional.
It wasn’t Tennessee’s best day at the plate but the Vols were solid recording eight hits. Tennessee scored three of its runs with two-outs thanks to hits from Evan Russell and Drew Gilbert as well as a wild pitch.
Liam Spence was great again today, going 2-for-3with a pair of walks. The Vols’ shortstop is now 7-of-16 at the plate this week with three walks.
Tony Vitello was aggressive using his bullpen, throwing both Redmond Walsh (12 pitches) and Sean Hunley (21 pitches). Both were incredibly efficient and because of that both should be available tomorrow along with Kirby Connell out of Tennessee’s bullpen.
Also credit to Sean Hunley who pitched two innings in just 21 pitches despite a Jake Rucker error, an incredibly soft hit infield single and an easy fly ball dropping right behind Jordan Beck. He wasn’t rattled in the slightest after the last two happened to lead off the ninth, quickly and quietly getting a double play and shallow fly out to secure the win. That guy just gets people out.
Tennessee now advances to the SEC Tournament title where they’ll face the winner of Arkansas and Ole Miss at 3 p.m. ET tomorrow. Arkansas currently leads Ole Miss in the top of the third inning.
Quotes
Tony Vitello on if he’s ever seen Sean Hunley get rattled
“No. Jalen Beeks is the only guy that I can think of was the same. He was at Arkansas. He's in the Big Leagues now. Maybe that composure can bring Sean to the Big Leagues. There's only a couple guys that I've been around. Everyone knows Max, he's a psycho. It's okay to show emotions in some of those situations, but the world could be coming to an end, and he just kind of maintains what his personality is and keeps plugging away. It's a great example -- kind of talked about Liam's leadership and Sewell's. At the end of the game there, it's a great lesson for our guys that there isn't anything that's going to pop up in a baseball game that should be a surprise. Every time you come to the park, you see something new, and when it happens, rather than going ballistic or completely overreacting, I guess do what Sean Hunley would do.”
Vitello on what he saw from Camden Sewell
“His tempo was awesome. Sometimes he gets a little hyped up. He has an up tempo delivery, and he likes to work quick. Both starters were the same in that fashion. But sometimes he'll take that to an extreme and let his emotions get the best of him and get going fast. The other thing too, sometimes a guy gets on base here or there, a tendency for him or any pitcher is to start to stress the situation. No pitcher wants runs to score, but the best way to not let runs score is to be who you are and again maintain that composure we talked about prior to this and just throw the ball the way you're supposed to. Again, I feel like -- and no disrespect, obviously, to Florida. They could beat anybody in the country, but if he just throws the ball the way he's capable of, he could beat those guys today or at least give us a chance to win. But, again, I think he was excited about the opportunity we gave him and then also kind of got in a little bit of a flow there. Really, again, that could just be who he is. Sometimes he'll disrupt that flow from getting too excited or getting too emotional on the mound. So a great personal lesson for him to carry into his next effort.”
Vitello on the magic of Frank Anderson mound visits
“Dude, are you the guy that's in the dugout saying, hey, it's the seventh inning. We've got a no-hitter going. You're trying to jinx us, which I joke about. Kind of tough to hear any courtesy laughs on Zoom. No, Frank has been around as long as anybody, and all the umpires in the league, all you've got to do is ask them how competitive he is. It's to a fault, but also he's incredibly intelligent, and he uses that competitiveness in combination with his thoughts, and that's how he gets guys like Garrett Crochet from point A to a point B that's almost on another level or really is. There's no magic in any pregame speech we have or coaching advice or anything like that, but I think our guys are able to calm themselves and play catch whether it be the defense or the guys on the mound when he goes out there and kind of handles the situation. It makes it easy on me. My only time out there is just going to be to switch up who we're going to use.”
Liam Spence on what he saw from Camden today
“Camden was incredible today. He pounds the zone, and he works fast. As a defender, when your pitcher is working fast, it's easy to stay locked in. So we really appreciate that out of Cam.”
Spence on what helped him break out of his short slump
“Just sticking with the approach. It's been working all season. No reason to get away from it. The hits will come. Just trust that what I'm doing is working, and the hits will come. But just trusting what I was doing and having fun.”
Spence on if he thought ‘this is a bad time to be slumping’
“I'd be lying if I said I hadn't thought about it, but it wasn't really worrying me because, as soon as the season ended, it's kind of like a fresh start. Once playoffs start, it's like a fresh start to the season, and I went with the approach that's been working for me all season. Yeah, I'm just happy to be getting on base again for the boys.”
Camden Sewell on pitching 2.2 innings more than he had in any appearance all season
“To be honest, I got a little gassed and a little tired. I was just trying to give everything I could to go as far deep in the game as possible.”
Sewell on his success over the last few weeks
“I think it just comes down to being myself. Earlier in the year, I was trying to do too much and be something I'm not. The key to being a pitcher is just be yourself, and not everyone's the same.”
Sewell on if he had any conversations with Vitello before the game about how long he could go
“He told me not too long ago I ruined his pitching plan for the day. I don't know how to take that, but hopefully it was a good thing.”
Tennessee 4 8 1
Florida 0 4 1
W — Camden Sewell, L — Brandon Sproat
Notes
Camden Sewell had been really good his last few appearances, allowing just two earned runs in his last 15 innings pitched entering today. The junior was outstanding against Florida, allowing only two hits and three baserunners in six scoreless innings. Sewell struck out six while allowing just one baserunner to reach scoring position. Sewell’s emergence and outing today seem to make him a clear candidate to be a fourth starter in next week’s regional.
It wasn’t Tennessee’s best day at the plate but the Vols were solid recording eight hits. Tennessee scored three of its runs with two-outs thanks to hits from Evan Russell and Drew Gilbert as well as a wild pitch.
Liam Spence was great again today, going 2-for-3with a pair of walks. The Vols’ shortstop is now 7-of-16 at the plate this week with three walks.
Tony Vitello was aggressive using his bullpen, throwing both Redmond Walsh (12 pitches) and Sean Hunley (21 pitches). Both were incredibly efficient and because of that both should be available tomorrow along with Kirby Connell out of Tennessee’s bullpen.
Also credit to Sean Hunley who pitched two innings in just 21 pitches despite a Jake Rucker error, an incredibly soft hit infield single and an easy fly ball dropping right behind Jordan Beck. He wasn’t rattled in the slightest after the last two happened to lead off the ninth, quickly and quietly getting a double play and shallow fly out to secure the win. That guy just gets people out.
Tennessee now advances to the SEC Tournament title where they’ll face the winner of Arkansas and Ole Miss at 3 p.m. ET tomorrow. Arkansas currently leads Ole Miss in the top of the third inning.
Quotes
Tony Vitello on if he’s ever seen Sean Hunley get rattled
“No. Jalen Beeks is the only guy that I can think of was the same. He was at Arkansas. He's in the Big Leagues now. Maybe that composure can bring Sean to the Big Leagues. There's only a couple guys that I've been around. Everyone knows Max, he's a psycho. It's okay to show emotions in some of those situations, but the world could be coming to an end, and he just kind of maintains what his personality is and keeps plugging away. It's a great example -- kind of talked about Liam's leadership and Sewell's. At the end of the game there, it's a great lesson for our guys that there isn't anything that's going to pop up in a baseball game that should be a surprise. Every time you come to the park, you see something new, and when it happens, rather than going ballistic or completely overreacting, I guess do what Sean Hunley would do.”
Vitello on what he saw from Camden Sewell
“His tempo was awesome. Sometimes he gets a little hyped up. He has an up tempo delivery, and he likes to work quick. Both starters were the same in that fashion. But sometimes he'll take that to an extreme and let his emotions get the best of him and get going fast. The other thing too, sometimes a guy gets on base here or there, a tendency for him or any pitcher is to start to stress the situation. No pitcher wants runs to score, but the best way to not let runs score is to be who you are and again maintain that composure we talked about prior to this and just throw the ball the way you're supposed to. Again, I feel like -- and no disrespect, obviously, to Florida. They could beat anybody in the country, but if he just throws the ball the way he's capable of, he could beat those guys today or at least give us a chance to win. But, again, I think he was excited about the opportunity we gave him and then also kind of got in a little bit of a flow there. Really, again, that could just be who he is. Sometimes he'll disrupt that flow from getting too excited or getting too emotional on the mound. So a great personal lesson for him to carry into his next effort.”
Vitello on the magic of Frank Anderson mound visits
“Dude, are you the guy that's in the dugout saying, hey, it's the seventh inning. We've got a no-hitter going. You're trying to jinx us, which I joke about. Kind of tough to hear any courtesy laughs on Zoom. No, Frank has been around as long as anybody, and all the umpires in the league, all you've got to do is ask them how competitive he is. It's to a fault, but also he's incredibly intelligent, and he uses that competitiveness in combination with his thoughts, and that's how he gets guys like Garrett Crochet from point A to a point B that's almost on another level or really is. There's no magic in any pregame speech we have or coaching advice or anything like that, but I think our guys are able to calm themselves and play catch whether it be the defense or the guys on the mound when he goes out there and kind of handles the situation. It makes it easy on me. My only time out there is just going to be to switch up who we're going to use.”
Liam Spence on what he saw from Camden today
“Camden was incredible today. He pounds the zone, and he works fast. As a defender, when your pitcher is working fast, it's easy to stay locked in. So we really appreciate that out of Cam.”
Spence on what helped him break out of his short slump
“Just sticking with the approach. It's been working all season. No reason to get away from it. The hits will come. Just trust that what I'm doing is working, and the hits will come. But just trusting what I was doing and having fun.”
Spence on if he thought ‘this is a bad time to be slumping’
“I'd be lying if I said I hadn't thought about it, but it wasn't really worrying me because, as soon as the season ended, it's kind of like a fresh start. Once playoffs start, it's like a fresh start to the season, and I went with the approach that's been working for me all season. Yeah, I'm just happy to be getting on base again for the boys.”
Camden Sewell on pitching 2.2 innings more than he had in any appearance all season
“To be honest, I got a little gassed and a little tired. I was just trying to give everything I could to go as far deep in the game as possible.”
Sewell on his success over the last few weeks
“I think it just comes down to being myself. Earlier in the year, I was trying to do too much and be something I'm not. The key to being a pitcher is just be yourself, and not everyone's the same.”
Sewell on if he had any conversations with Vitello before the game about how long he could go
“He told me not too long ago I ruined his pitching plan for the day. I don't know how to take that, but hopefully it was a good thing.”
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