Who can pitch for Tennessee and Wake Forest on Monday?

Postseason baseball can put stress on your pitching staff, especially if your team is climbing out of the loser’s bracket in a regional setup.

That’s exactly where both Tennessee and Wake Forest are as the Demon Decans forced a Monday Game 7 in the Knoxville Regional following the 7-6 walk-off win on Sunday night.

So, who is available to pitch on both sides with it being an ‘all hands-on deck approach?’ As a win is needed to keep the season alive, both programs are going to be pushing the limits, as long as they are keeping their guys safe.

Tennessee will be playing in its fourth game of the weekend on Monday. The expectation is just about everybody would be available to get an out or two if needed, minus probably Brandon Arvidson who has combined to throw 113 pitches on the weekend with 108 on Sunday.

“We haven’t talked about that, who would start,” Vols skipper Tony Vitello answered when asked if Tegan Kuhns would start on Monday. “There are some guys that are fresh. Makes you feel good about that. And then there’s some guys that are very valuable pitchers that it’s up to them whether they want the ball or not. And I already know one of them has been in my ear, but we’ll see. Whoever else wants to be involved, great.”

When asked a follow-up question on who has already been ‘in his ear,’ Vitello smirked and chuckled through his response.

“The lefty, his idiot buddy,” the coach answered while motioning to Andrew Fischer who was sitting to his left.

Tennessee ace Liam Doyle was who he was referencing. It wouldn’t be the first time Doyle has thrown twice over a weekend span. The lefty threw 23 pitches in the first inning against Auburn on May 3 before the game was suspended due to rain. He came back on Sunday to finish the second game of the series, throwing 34 pitches to combine for a total of 57 over a three-day stretch.

With the season on the line, I’d expect to see Doyle on the mound in some capacity for the Vols if needed. Dylan Loy, Tanner Franklin and Brayden Krenzel are all available as well. The latter two haven’t even thrown this weekend yet. Loy tossed the first 21 pitches to open Sunday’s game.

With Tennessee being in a decent spot for Monday, let’s take a look at Wake Forest, who has played one more game than the Vols this weekend already.

The Demon Decans have already seen five of their pitchers multiple times over regional play. These hurlers include Luke Schmolke, Rhys Bowie, Josh Gunther, Haiden Leffew and Logan Lunceford. Starting ace Blake Morningstar threw 111 pitches on Friday and like Tennessee’s Doyle, he’s already been working on the head coach to let him throw some on Monday as well.

Wake Forest plans to start senior right-handed pitcher Griffin Green in the winner-take-all matchup on Monday. The former Virginia Tech standout as logged 34 innings on the season with a 2-1 record and a 2.65 ERA. He’s struck out 35 batters, walked 19 and has held opponents to a .172 clip at the plate.

Green threw the final 1.1 innings (19 pitches) of Friday’s loss to Cincinnati.

“Thanks to Logan [Lunceford] and Matt Dallas, we’re in a lot better shape than I thought we’d be in, quite honestly,” Wake Forest coach Tom Walter said of his plans on the mound for Monday. “If we can get Griff [starting pitcher] twice through the order, that should set us up for the rest of the day.”

Like Tennessee, Wake Forest will be patching things together on the mound. Still, feels like there’s a lot of options for Walter to call on for Monday.   

“We got Luke Schmolke back tomorrow. We’re going to have Haiden [Leffew] back tomorrow. Knowing Gunny [Josh Gunther], will have him back tomorrow. We also got [Duncan] Marston and [Chris] Levonas back tomorrow.

“So, I like the options we have available tomorrow.”

Tennessee and Wake Forest will conclude the Knoxville Regional on Monday night at 8 o’clock ET. The game will be televised on ESPN2.

Tennessee Pitching in Knoxville Regional    

Liam Doyle: 104, 6.2 IP (Friday)
Austin Breedlove: 7, 0.1 IP (Friday)
Andrew Behnke: 24, 2 IP (Friday)
Marcus Phillips: 98, 6 IP (Saturday)
AJ Russell: 53, 2.2 IP (Saturday)
Brandon Arvidson: 5, 0.1 IP (Saturday), 108, 5.1 IP (Sunday), TOTAL:113, 5.2 IP  
Dylan Loy: 21, 1.1 IP (Sunday)
Nate Snead: 41, 1.1 IP (Sunday)
Tanner Franklin: DNP
Brayden Krenzel: DNP
Michael Sharman: DNP
Tegan Kuhns: DNP

Wake Forest Pitching in Knoxville Regional  

Blake Morningstar: 111, 4.1 IP (Friday)
Luke Schmolke: 28, 1.2 IP (Friday), 27, 1.1 IP (Sunday), TOTAL: 3 IP, 56 pitches
Rhys Bowie: 28, 1.2 IP (Friday), 42, 1.2 IP (Sunday), TOTAL: 3.2 IP, 70 pitches
Griffin Green: 19, 1.1 IP (Friday)
Chris Levonas: 40, 1.1 IP (Saturday)
Zach Johnston: 37, 1.2 IP (Saturday)
Duncan Marsten: 47, 1.2 IP (Saturday)
Josh Gunther: 54, 2 IP (Saturday), 32, 1.1 IP (Sunday), TOTAL: 3.1 IP, 86 pitches
Joe Ariola: 9, 0.0 IP
Haiden Leffew: 48, 1.2 IP (Saturday), 13, 1.0, IP, TOTAL: 2.2 IP, 61 pitches
Logan Lunceford: 8, 0.2 IP (Saturday), 80, 5.0 IP (Sunday), TOTAL: 5.2 IP, 88 pitches
Matthew Dallas: 115, 7.2 IP (Sunday)