Who Will Pitch for Tennessee Baseball in Round Two of the SEC Tournament

This player will be the starter for the Vols in the second game of their SEC tournament run.

Tennessee coach Josh Elander on the third base line during a baseball game between Tennessee and Kent State in Lindsey Nelson Stadium in Knoxville, Tennessee, Feb. 20, 2026. | Caitie McMekin/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Josh Elander has officially announced that the Vols will be starting one of their typical starters in game two of the SEC Tournament, after they were victorious against the South Carolina Gamecocks in game one of the tournament. In that game, the Vols pitched arguably their best relief pitcher, Cam Appenzeller.

In their game against the Arkansas Razorbacks, they will be pitching Evan Blanco, who is usually the day three starter for the Vols, and is someone who has shown a lot of fire as of recently. So far this season, Blanco has posted a 4.56 ERA, but has also been solid as a strikeout pitcher. He has done a great job in strikeouts, as he has a total of 94 this season, and he is bound to pass Tegan Kuhns with a good outing, who has 100 strikeouts thus far.

Blanco is someone who gives the Tennessee team their best chance to win the game. If the Vols win, they will be playing their third game on Friday when they will be matching up against the Texas Longhorns, whom they defeated in a series earlier in the year. As for the Vols and the Razorbacks, they didn't match up once this season. This is something that will be monitored closely when the two teams match up on Wednesday.

The game is set to begin at 5:30 PM EST, but as many can expect, it will likely be a little later than that when it actually begins due to the game in front of this one. The Vols will look to have a great day with their bats yet again, which is what the story of the game was yesterday for the Vols after a huge home run from Garrett Wright and a huge home run from Henry Ford.

In today's game, they will need some of those bats if they want to win, as the Razorbacks will give the Vols everything they got, as they look to secure the SEC championship in baseball after they won the SEC championship in Men's Basketball.

This matchup is the one that most is excited for on the second day of this event, as the Vols are notorious for winning games in the SEC tournament under the leadership of Tony Vitello. Now they will hope for a great run under their new head coach, Josh Elander, as this would be the biggest win of his young head coaching career.