Arkansas to play Tennessee in second round of SEC Tournament
The Arkansas baseball team is set to begin its SEC Tournament run and will play the Tennessee Volunteers on Wednesday afternoon.
Arkansas got the first round off with a bye, while Tennessee took down South Carolina 11-6 at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium in Hoover, Alabama, on Tuesday.
The Hogs and Volunteers did not play each other in the regular season. The last time the two faced off was in the Super Regional round of last year’s NCAA Tournament, when Arkansas took back-to-back wins to advance to the College World Series. Prior to that, they played a three-game series in Fayetteville to close out the regular season, which Arkansas also took two of three in.
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Tennessee is sporting a new head coach this year after Tony Vitello bolted to the San Francisco Giants last offseason. The new head coach, Josh Elander, was a volunteer assistant coach at Arkansas in 2017.
During that season, Arkansas head coach Dave Van Horn saw that Elander had what it takes to become a head coach.
“I told him that, I said ‘you’ll be a good head coach one day,’” Van Horn said Tuesday. “That was just such an interesting time because Tony left, Tony tried to hire two or three other people in front of him. And I kept telling him, ‘take Josh. Josh is young, but he’s ready. He’s mature for his age. Players like him. And, you know, finally he did. And it worked out.”
Elander has been with the Tennessee program since 2018 and started as an assistant and the recruiting coordinator, a position he held until 2022, when he was named the associate head coach and recruiting coordinator. He was named the head coach this past offseason.
The Volunteers finished the season 37-19 with a 15-15 mark in SEC play. They took series wins over Texas and Oklahoma to end the regular season.
Arkansas and Tennessee with start at around 4:30 p.m. CT in Hoover, Alabama. The game will air on the SEC Network.
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