Former Tennessee Volunteer baseball pitcher Luke Hochevar made his World Series debut on Tuesday night against the New York Mets.
Hochevar, a former All-American for the Vols, was the first overall pick in the 2006 draft for the Kansas City Royals. Hochevar came into the league as a starter, but transitioned to the bullpen in the 2013 season.
This is the second straight year the Royals have made it to the World Series, but Hochevar could only watch from the dugout last year. The former Vol spent his 2014 season recovering from Tommy John surgery for an injury sustained with the ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) in his elbow.
Hochevar’s return in 2015 has seen him garner a 3.73 ERA in just over 50 innings pitched. Up until the World Series, Hochevar came in relief for a total 5.2 innings with a 1-0 record, and had not allowed a single earned run in the postseason.
His series debut in the ninth bumped that total to 6.2 innings, and still without a single earned run.
Hochevar replaced relief pitcher Kelvin Herrera trailing 4-3 in the top half of the final inning. Hochevar retired Mets outfielder Curtis Granderson via fly out. David Wright reached on a single to left field, but was caught trying to steal second,. Hochevar was able to get NLCS MVP Daniel Murphy to fly out to end the inning.
The Royals went on to tie the game in the bottom of the ninth with an Alex Gordon home run to center field.
Hochevar did not return to the mound for a second inning, but the Royals went on to win in the bottom of the 14th inning with a sacrifice fly from Eric Hosmer scoring Alcides Escobar.
The Royals currently have a 1-0 game lead in the series. You should expect to see former Volunteer Luke Hochevar as the series continues.