Tennessee baseball announces starting pitcher for College World Series opener vs Florida State
Tennessee baseball will stick with its pitching rotation in the College World Series.
The Vols will start left-handed pitcher Chris Stamos against Florida State on Friday, Vols coach Tony Vitello said Thursday.
"I think we are just going to kind of roll and stay true to our roots," Vitello said. "We will go from there with what we see fit. We will just treat the game we are playing that particular day as if it is almost kind of the only game we've got."
No. 1 Tennessee (55-12) opens the College World Series against No. 8 Florida State (47-15) on Friday (7 p.m. ET, ESPN) at Charles Schwab Field in Omaha, Nebraska.
Chris Stamos will start for Tennessee baseball vs FSU
Stamos has been the go-to Game 1 arm for Tennessee since mid-April when the Vols shuffled the pitching plan into its current iteration. Stamos transferred to Tennessee from Cal in July.
The senior pitcher is 3-0 with a 4.02 ERA. He has thrown 31⅓ innings in 20 appearances with nine starts.
UNUSUAL: How Tennessee baseball reinvented pitching staff to get back to College World Series
Stamos typically throws the first couple innings as an opener before the Vols turn to AJ Causey, who has been a star pitcher in long relief. Causey's 13 wins are the most in a season for a Tennessee pitcher since Luke Hochevar had 15 in 2005. He is 13-3 with a 3.77 ERA with 117 strikeouts in 86 innings. He ranks second innings behind junior Drew Beam, who has 93⅓ innings.
Tennessee typically starts Beam in Game 2 and senior Zander Sechrist in Game 3.
Who will Florida State start against Tennessee in College World Series?
Vitello indicated he did not know who Florida State was starting, but the Seminoles had "thrown out a few names at us."
"When we do know who we're (facing), we will prepare as best we see fit," Vitello said.
FSU likely will start ace Jamie Arnold on Friday. Arnold ranks third in the nation in strikeouts with 155 in 100⅔ innings. He is 11-3 with a 2.77 ERA. He has walked only 22 and allowed six homers. Vitello said he has seen Arnold throw because he was a teammate of Billy Amick's in the Cape Cod League last summer.
Mike Wilson covers University of Tennessee athletics. Email him at michael.wilson@knoxnews.com and follow him on Twitter @ByMikeWilson. If you enjoy Mike’s coverage, consider a digital subscription that will allow you access to all of it.
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Tennessee baseball vs FSU: UT Vols set starting pitcher for CWS Friday
