University of Tennessee Athletics
VFL Luke Hochevar Advances to World Series
October 24, 2015 | Baseball
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – With a 4-3 win over the Toronto Blue Jays on Friday night, the Kansas City Royals and former Tennessee Volunteer Luke Hochevar clinched a World Series berth the second consecutive year. Hochevar went 1-0 over three scoreless relief appearances against Toronto as Kansas City went on to take the American League Championship Series in Game 6 of a best-of-seven series.
Kansas City now moves on to face the Mets in Game 1 of the World Series, set for Tuesday night at Kauffman Stadium beginning at 8 p.m. ET.
Hochevar spent last year’s World Series on the disabled list after missing all of the 2014 season due to Tommy John surgery. The Royals were defeated in seven games in the 2014 World Series by the San Francisco Giants before Hochevar officially returned to the mound this season on May 7, 2015.
In the 2015 postseason, Hochevar (1-0) pitched 5.2 scoreless innings over five games while giving up just four hits with two strikeouts.
Hochevar played three seasons with the Tennessee Volunteers from 2003-2005. In his final season on Rocky Top, Hochevar was named a consensus First-Team All-American, SEC Pitcher of the Year and the Roger Clemens National Pitcher of the Year.
While leading the Vols to the 2005 College World Series, Hochevar posted a 2.26 ERA and a 15-3 record. He set the single-season strikeout record at Tennessee with 154 and tied VFL and Toronto Blue Jays pitcher R.A. Dickey’s school record of 15 wins in a single season.
Hochevar and Dickey were two of four former Vols to make the 2015 MLB postseason. New York Yankees third baseman Chase Headley and Houston Astros third baseman Matt Duffy also made their teams’ respective playoff rosters. UT’s four former players to begin postseason play tied the second-highest count in the SEC this year and tied for third-highest among NCAA programs.
Hochevar is one of 12 former Vols to make a World Series appearance, while six have gone on to win World Series championships. The last former Vol to win a World Series title was Atlanta Braves pitcher Greg McMichael in 1995.
For more information about the Tennessee baseball team, visit UTSports.com/baseball and follow @Vol_Baseball on Twitter.
