KNOXVILLE, Tenn. –Tennessee baseball picked up a 2-1 win over Southern Indiana Wednesday night to improve to 13-1 on the season and extend its winning streak to 12 games.
Tennessee starting pitcher Zander Sechrist was the MVP for the Vols, dealing a career-high 10 strikeouts in a career-high 5.2 innings pitched. Kirby Connell also shined out of the bullpen, dealing three scoreless innings to slam the door on the Screaming Eagles and get the save.
It was an uneventful game at the plate for both sides, as it took until the sixth inning for either team to score.
Still, Tennessee was able to earn the narrow win.
Here’s three quick takeaways on Tennessee’s second one-run midweek win of the season.
Zander Sechrist Delivers Season-Best Outing
Senior left-hander Zander Sechrist got the ball for the Vols on Wednesday and dominated in five-plus innings of action.
The Buford, Georgia, native not only set a career-high in strikeouts (9) and innings pitched (5.2), Sechrist allowed only four hits, one run and one walk. Additionally, he allowed two baserunners in an inning just once. Sechrist’s previous career highs for strikeouts and innings pitched were seven and 5.1.
Sechrist nearly shutout Southern Indiana for the duration of his outing, but he gave up a solo home run to Tucker Ebest with one away in the sixth.
Still, it was a memorable outing for Sechrist that was undoubtedly his best of the young season.
Tennessee Gets Going in the Sixth
Tennessee did very little at the plate for the first five innings. The Vols mustered just three hits through the first five innings and had a runner in scoring position one time.
But in the sixth inning, after Southern Indiana had taken the lead with a solo home run in the top of the frame, Christian Moore tied the game with a leadoff solo blast to right field.
Blake Burke followed it up with a single, advanced to third on a Kavares Tears single, then scored on a Dalton Bargo sac fly.
While it looked like Tennessee’s bats had turned the corner in the sixth, the Vols went scoreless for the remaining two innings while tallying no hits.
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Bullpen Does Its Job
Two more pitchers threw for the Vols after Sechrist and combined to deal 3.1 scoreless innings.
Freshman right-hander Derek Scahefer was the first out of the pen, getting a groundout to end the top of the sixth inning.
Senior left-hander Kirby Connell then got the ball to begin the seventh and pitched a season-high 3.0 innings. Connell retired nine of 11 batters without allowing a hit or a walk, as the two baserunners reached via errors by the infield (Curley and Antigua).
Connell’s best moment came when he dealt a crucial strikeout to end the top of the eighth and strand a runner at second. In the ninth, Connell worked around a one-out error to strand the tying run at second, earning his first save of the season in the process.
Additionally, 3.0 innings was the longest Connell has gone since 2022, and he hadn’t had a save since 2021.
Up Next
Tennessee will host Illinois in game one of a three-game series on Friday at 6 p.m. ET in Lindsey Nelson Stadium.
