OMAHA, Neb. — Andrew Armstrong got his shot at the College World Series on Tuesday. Now, Zander Sechrist will get his.
The former Flowery Branch standouts are leaving their mark on the 2024 CWS.
Armstrong, a senior, started and went 4 1/3 innings on Tuesday in Florida State’s elimination game against North Carolina, yielding three runs on five hits and three walks. The senior southpaw left with a 5-3 lead but did not figure in the decision.
However, the Seminoles held on for a 9-5 win over the Tar Heels to set up another elimination game on Wednesday with Sechrist and the No. 1-seeded Tennessee Volunteers.
Sechrist, also a senior, will be making the start of the Vols with a chance to send them to their first-ever CWS finals, which begin on Saturday. But he’ll have to do it against Armstrong’s Seminoles squad.
It’s the third trip to Omaha for Sechrist and the current Vols team, but this will be the first time he has ever hit the mound at Charles Schwab Stadium. First pitch is scheduled for 3 p.m. ET
“It will be exciting overall because a lot of kids dream of pitching in Omaha!” Sechrist said Wednesday morning. “I still think of it as just a baseball mound. It’s still 60-feet, 6-inches away and the plate is still 17-inches wide. Obviously FSU is a great team and I respect what Coach Jarrett has done with that program.”
Sechrist also got a front-row seat to Armstrong’s outing on Tuesday as he was cheering on his former high school teammate and friend.
“A shout out to Andrew doing his thing (Tuesday). So proud of him,” Sechrist said. “I texted him that I love him! Overall it will be exciting just hoping that I can give my team a chance to win.”
This won’t be the first time Sechrist has gotten the ball with a chance to move his team into the next round. He tossed 6 1/3 innings allowing just one run on six hits and striking out six in the Vols’ 12-1 win over Evansville in Game 3 of their Super Regional back on June 9. He got the win.
“With Tennessee not ever winning a national championship, it would be pretty cool to send this group we have into the championship (round),” he said. “But baseball is a weird game and you can’t overlook and think about the next thing. You have to be focused on the task at hand and that is FSU for us right now.
“We will see what happens today! We will go out and compete to the best of our abilities.”
