#1 Vols Fall to Vanderbilt in SEC Tournament Opener
HOOVER, Ala. – No. 1/1 Tennessee didn’t open its 2024 SEC Tournament run the way it had hoped, falling to Vanderbilt, 13-4, at the Hoover Met on Wednesday evening.
The Volunteers were unable to overcome a tough night on the mound in which they used eight pitchers and gave up 15 hits, including four home runs.
On a positive note for the Vols, sophomore righthander AJ Russell made his return from injury by tossing a scoreless sixth inning despite having to work out of some trouble after allowing the first two batters to reach base. The Franklin, Tennessee, native struck out Vastine to strand runners on the corners to end the frame and finished with a pair of punchouts in the inning.
With a shutout inning of relief, Kirby Connell extended his streak of scoreless appearances to nine. The veteran lefty did not allow a hit on Wednesday and has not surrendered a run since April 21 at Kentucky.
The Vols will await the loser of Wednesday’s nightcap between No. 4 seed Texas A&M and No. 5 seed Mississippi State, who they’ll play in an elimination on Thursday afternoon at approximately 2 p.m. ET
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