HOOVER, AL − Tennessee baseball’s SEC Tournament run begins with a first-round matchup against South Carolina.
The No. 10 seed Vols (37-19) will take on the No. 15 seed Gamecocks (22-34) on May 19 (6:35 p.m. ET, SEC Network) at the Hoover Met. Their game is the third of four on the opening day of the six-day tournament.
“It’s one of the best weeks of the year getting down there,” Vols coach Josh Elander said on May 18.
Tennessee won’t have starting outfielder Reese Chapman, who was ruled out after being struck in the face by a line drive at practice on May 18.
South Carolina lost its last 12 games of the regular season.
Tennessee will give freshman lefty Cam Appenzeller (5-1, 4.81 ERA) his second career start and first against an SEC team, with his only other start being a one-inning outing against West Georgia. South Carolina is starting junior Brandon Stone (5-4, 4.64 ERA) for the ninth time this season.
The winner will play No. 7 seed Arkansas (36-19) in the second round on May 20 (5:30 p.m., SEC Network).
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Tennessee vs. South Carolina SEC Tournament live updates
South Carolina’s second homer of the seventh inning was a two-run shot by Will Craddock. All of a sudden, it’s a three-run game at 9-6, and Josh Elander has pulled reliever Brayden Krenzel for Will Haas.
Patrick Evans blasted a solo home run to deep left field in the top of the seventh, scoring South Carolina’s first run since the third inning. Vols lead 9-4.
Tennessee leads 9-3 after South Carolina’s third error of the game. Henry Ford was caught in a rundown between third and home, but the catcher dropped the ball and Ford scored.
After a two-RBI single by Garrett Wright, Tennessee has an 8-3 after the third inning. The Vols have 10 hits and eight starters have already reached base.
Nate Eisfelder, making just his third career start because of the injury to usual right fielder Reese Chapman, found the gap in right-center field for a two-RBI double. Tennessee leads 6-3 in the third inning.
Vols designated hitter Trent Grindlinger poked a single to right field that drove in Blake Grimmer and tied the game at 3-3 in the bottom of the third, and Manny Marin gave Tennessee a 4-3 lead with an RBI single to right of his own later in the inning.
Tennessee catcher Levi Clark challenged that Cam Appenzeller’s 3-2 pitch to Dawson Harman was a ball, and after review the pitch missed the strike zone by one-tenth of an inch.
Two batters later, Patrick Evans tripled to right-center field, driving in two runs to even the score in the top of the third inning. A squeeze bunt scored him, putting South Carolina up 3-2.
The first two Tennessee batters got on base — Garrett Wright singled to center and Blake Grimmer hit an infield single before advancing to second on an error — and both came around to score. Wright was brought home by a Henry Ford sacrifice fly and Grimmer scored on an RBI single by Levi Clark.
Vols lead 2-0 after the first inning.
Tennessee freshman Cam Appenzeller is making his first career SEC start but looked plenty comfortable in the first inning. He retired the side in order on 12 pitches, striking out two.
First pitch between Tennessee and South Carolina will be at 6:35 p.m. ET, one hour and five minutes after the originally scheduled start time of 5:30 p.m.
Freshman Nate Eisfelder will start in right field for Tennessee with usual starter Reese Chapman out after being struck in the face with a line drive during practice on May 18. It will be Eisfelder’s third career start.
Tennessee’s full starting outfield against South Carolina: Blaine Brown in left field, Garrett Wright in center and Eisfelder in right.
Tennessee’s game against South Carolina was scheduled to start at 5:30 p.m. ET but will not start on time with the preceding game between Vanderbilt and Kentucky still in the sixth inning at 5 p.m. ET. SEC Tournament guidelines state that games should start approximately 30 minutes after the prior game concludes.
When does Tennessee vs. South Carolina start?
Date: Tuesday, May 19
Time: 6:35 p.m. ET
Location: Hoover Met, Hoover, Alabama
What channel is Tennessee vs. South Carolina on?
TV: SEC Network
Streaming: Fubo (free trial)
Tennessee vs. South Carolina starting pitchers
Tennessee: LHP Cam Appenzeller (5-1, 4.81 ERA)
South Carolina: RHP Brandon Stone (5-4, 4.64 ERA)
Tennessee vs. South Carolina injury updates
Tennessee: OF Reese Chapman (out), P Landon Mack (questionable)
South Carolina: 1B Beau Hollins (out), C Reese Moore (out), P Jake McCoy (out)
Emmett Siegel covers Tennessee baseball for Knox News. Email: [email protected]; X: @EmmettSiegel_
