HOOVER, Ala. — Tennessee baseball laid an egg in the SEC Tournament Semifinals on Saturday, falling to rival Vanderbilt 10-0 in a seven inning run-rule.
Following the game, Tennessee coach Tony Vitello discussed Tegan Kuhns’ struggles, the week as a whole and much more. Here’s everything Vitello said.
More From RTI: Everything Vanderbilt HC Tim Corbin Said After Win Over Tennessee in SEC Tournament Semifinals
Opening Statement
“Yeah, poor effort. Not what everybody woke up early for, but also, hats off to Vanderbilt. They outplayed us today. A lot of things piled up for us. Maybe bad itinerary by me leading into the game, but the guys were energetic going in.
“The theme early was some ground balls, including the bunt, getting past our guys. We maybe could have been quicker or make a better pitch, but again, Vanderbilt did what they needed to do offensively. We had a couple innings, you know, where we could have done something, but did not. Just overall, needed to be better in every area.”
On Tennessee’s effort, what about the itinerary he would do differently
“Oh, I don’t know. I mean, the guys, you’re kind of looking for — guys are getting eye boogers out of their eyes when you’re over there stretching at Hoover High. The guys were bouncing around and all energetic. But, you know, maybe it’s the long week, maybe it’s that extra-inning game against Texas, maybe it’s the long season. Thought we were playing at one time, (then) another, so maybe it was a great itinerary (and) maybe we just got beat.
“But yeah, anytime it doesn’t go well, you want to reflect on it. It’s easy to throw darts at things, but for us, we invest time in everything we’re doing, and ahead of time, try and prepare the best way possible. And then if it doesn’t go well, you try and make adjustments, even if sometimes it is the right move and the right itinerary, but you don’t get the right outcome.”
On why he feels like Tennessee deserves to host a regional in the NCAA Tournament
“I think it would be phenomenal for the fans to have another go-around. It was kind of a quirky year where timing of some things and weather of things just wasn’t ideal. There are times we had an opportunity to entertain the fans, which is certainly not the goal but it did not occur. They can be an advantage for us, too. We talked in the cages on time when we won a one-run game — not easy to say a bunch of times — but they were an edge for us in that one in particular. They have been that, too, in the past few years. I think it would be great for them and it would be great for our kids. We are not in control of it. We will let those people that are fully qualified sit in the room and diagnose that. I think the fact we came here and got two wins and racked up RPI — I would assume Texas and Vanderbilt are 1-2 or 1 and 2 or 3 or 4 in RPI. Alabama was a swing host team. We were able to beat them. Florida was a swing host team. We were fortunate enough to beat them in the regular season and outlast them here. Sour taste for everybody today but Hunter pointed it out very well. The the thing this team needs to do is when we have a three-game set is win a series and we are going to have to earn the right to have another series or three-game set because a regional is a little bit of a different animal. As he said, these kids have played well on the road but yeah I’d like to be in Lindsey Nelson Stadium.”
On how significant it is for the team to see positive results at the SEC Tournament heading into the NCAA Tournament
“I think it was beneficial for some individuals, but also the team, to be able to rally behind in the second game, to come out ready after being on the road. We’ve been on the road for a long time, and, you know, it just didn’t go well in Game 3 against Arkansas, another really good team.
“And then two, just get some high fives going, but also get beat up a little bit. So you’re not surprised by anything that you see, whether it’s a guy that pitches quickly or a guy that’s got good ride to his fastball, as Hunter (Ensley) mentioned, or a lefty doing this or that, bunt plays. We do need to continue to get better as a team and prepare for whatever our assignment is, but our guys should feel like they’ve seen about everything.”
On Vanderbilt hitting 13 singles, scoring 10 runs without an extra-base hit
“The three games we played at our place were different. I think, you know, today again, it was ground balls past us, but (Rustan) Rigdon, you know, slaughtered a ball up the middle (to lead off the game). And then after that, they were able to accumulate some low line drives. It’s a ballpark where, as Gavin (Kilen) can attest to again today — he slaughtered that ball (a line drive to right field) even more so, and it got caught. So probably low line drives and ground balls are going to benefit you, and they adjusted well and did that.
“But they’re kind of like every lineup in the SEC. You got a guy in there that you wish didn’t exist, like (Riley) Nelson, got a great athlete like Rustan, and then everybody kind of did their job. Our guys got off to a good start (back-to-back walks to lead off the game). Swing and miss pitcher (Cody Bowker) and needed to do better in that situation.”
On Vanderbilt only having two steals against Tennessee after having several during the series in Knoxville two weeks ago
“Yeah, in their defense, I thought at Arkansas, it was much improved and it carried over. I don’t know what the numbers say, but over the last three days, it was good. I mean, did (Vanderbilt) steal after Rustan got the first inning? I mean, that one, wave off the board. You can look at the video. It rained before the game. Not that that had anything to do with the loss, but it was a little tough going there in the first thing for Cannon (Peebles).”
On what he wants to continue to see from his team as Tennessee attempts to win another championship
“I think to get eager to be better. That there were some things that we needed to be better at. It’s not a cop out or an excuse, but there’s some guys still getting comfortable with their positions. And when you get in these high-intensity games, where a guy does this early in the count, but this with two strikes, and guys are moving around. The more reps you get, the more comfortable you get at going to your right and doing this, or communicating in this particular situation. So we need to review the areas that maybe we have been poor at more than once, and cannot allow that to happen again, but just to continue to make steady progress. And if you’re fortunate enough, you tally up some more games, and there’ll be an opportunity to continue to do those things to get better.”
On what he’s seen from Tegan Kuhns lately, what adjustments he would like to see Kuhns make heading into the NCAA Tournament
“Yeah, I think I might have said it at some point, and then was on the radio yesterday, and they said, what’s something to look for? And it was exactly what showed up today, is lack of conviction to off-speed pitches. It’s a dynamic fastball. It was one that was huge for him in high school ball, and had him as a high draft candidate. Fortunately, he came to school. I’m certain he’s not afraid to compete. But at the same time, if he were to review today’s game, there were a lot of pitches that were not thrown with conviction, majority of them being off-speed pitches, and those guys were too good in the box, either if it was over the plate to make them pay, or a lot of times we were just behind in the count. So ultimately, you need to be ahead in the count like every pitcher. But I think the root of that is kind of that conviction deal.”
On his assessment of the new SEC Tournament format
What have the other coaches said? *Laughs* I don’t know. That’s a good question. I don’t think the fan, again I don’t have the numbers in front of me, so I don’t think the fan attendance has been affected. It seems like the people are here to tailgate, yell at me, cheer for their team. So that’s been good. I’ll be interested to see how it affects how many host teams we get and maybe how many more teams get in, yes or no. Pitching saved, and things like that. So I think a little bit of is an untold story. I think it’s awesome that all kids got to experience it. We get run ruled today, probably as karma that I’m always complaining about it. But to me, if we’re down like that, we should have to wear it for two more innings and then also maybe be able to get some guys ready for next weekend, and get some guys out there that, our kids we put in late did an excellent job, and they won’t forget those memories if they don’t get to do it again. So we’ll see.
“I got no complaints with it. The city does an incredible job. It might be the best run tournament in the country, with all due respect to everything else that goes on after this or at the same time. And they’re the best players. And I know there’s other great ones out there, but if you’re a fan, rather than pay $4,000 to go to a Braves game, just come here and watch the next whoever. There’s no Acuna out here, but there’s some other ones that will be up there.”
