Tennessee baseball suffered a 10-0 run-rule loss to Vanderbilt Saturday in the SEC Tournament Semifinals in Hoover. Vanderbilt jumped out to an early lead and went on to dominate the Vols.
Tegan Kuhns struggled as Tennessee’s starting pitcher while the offense fell completely flat against some good Commodore arms.
After the game, Vanderbilt head coach Tim Corbin met with the media to share his thoughts on the win.
See everything Corbin said after the win below.
Opening Statement:
“Well, we played well. Obviously, it was pretty complete in terms of pitching, defense and offense, hit the ball back up the middle, on a day where the field was going to play large. Cody (Bowker), obviously, got us off to a good start. Once he got through the first two hitters, he really settled in. His fastball was crisp. It looked like it was spinning well, at least from our vantage point, and used good attack on the hitters. Connor came in and gave us three good innings, as well, played good outfield defense. But we were just able to get on base and move and played a good game, take care of the baseball.”
On his team’s offensive approach in the tournament:
“I think the biggest concern for me personally and just watching it, I didn’t see anything to them, was just getting into game rhythm because it was five games in between the last game we played, so at no point in time did we do that during the course of the season. So really it was getting into a game and kind of settling in. I think it took us a few innings the other day, but today was a nice feeling in terms of their approaches, their at-bats, using the middle part of the field. The ball wasn’t going to leave.
“They hit a couple balls hard, certainly (Gavin) Kilen did, that would have been out on a normal day. So we knew the ball ceiling height had to be low and we had to use the gaps when we could so we could move.”
On why his team is playing much better as of late:
“Just finding themselves. I think sometimes teams take a while to find their identity, and as I was saying the other day, there’s no magic pill or magic dust to any of this. I think they’ve had a good focus of just getting better, and really, that’s what it’s been from the middle of the year. The results have been consistent, and that’s all that matters.
“But it’s not games in a row. It’s nothing like that. It’s just playing better baseball than the opponent. It’s as simple as that. But I think the guys have been very intentional on the days in between the games, and that matters. Once you get to this point right here, I think a lot of times you think, okay, you’re in the postseason. Well, you know what, we’ve been in the postseason a long time at Vanderbilt and the teams that have really been able to finish this off are the teams that still see more depth ahead of them. They see that they can get better. That’s really all we’ve tried to do during the course of this season, as well.”
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On what it would mean to win the tournament:
“It’s an accomplishment. It’s a goal. But it’s just one goal. It’s a mark that you get to.
“Obviously, we have more baseball ahead of us, but I think anytime you can put yourself in this situation — you look at this place; they’re spending money. You guys are here. We’re on TV. They celebrate these kids. I mean, it’s only right to get in here and play as hard as you possibly can. You’ve got nothing to lose, right? You’ve got nothing to lose. Win, lose, draw, doesn’t matter. Just put your best self on the field and do what we can and the results will speak for it.
On the value of RJ Austin’s veteran presence:
“Well, he’s been in our program for three years, and he’s been a big part of our program for three years. It’s pretty obvious to me that the kid loves to compete. He’s very settled in. We get to spend some with those guys in the locker room, which I never get to do. And it’s a unique feeling to be in there with your boys and just watch them.
“But whether it’s Riley (Nelson) or (Cody) Bowker, they all get themselves ready, but they’re very to themselves before they get into a game, but RJ is very deliberate about what he does.
“The thing I like about him most is he’s been able to contain his emotions in a better way this year internally. You see that he’s the first guy out of the dugout chest bumping someone who hits a home run, and that’s been in his worst moments, too. It’s not like, okay, I didn’t get a hit, so I’m not going to celebrate. He’s always the first.
“He plays for one reason: To win. And he plays for his team. And I love that about him.”
On why Connor Fennel pitched:
“Yeah, we brought in Fennell because they’ve been piggybacking together. We knew that next week we weren’t playing next week, but we knew that Fennell needed some time. The score didn’t matter. At the point that he came in, it was 7-0. That’s a dangerous team on the other side. We knew that. We understand that. It was just about winning a ballgame. We felt like Cody had reached his spot, Fennell was going to come in at that point.
“The fact that the game went seven was fine for Vanderbilt, but at the same time we’re looking at nine innings that we have to cover, so we’re looking beyond Fennell, as well.”
On what has been working well for the pitching staff:
“Yeah, strikes. Strikes for the most part. Now, we did give away some free bases the other night, but I just think the ability to get the big strike out — the strikeouts have been a big deal for our pitching staff over the course of the year but certainly in this tournament, as well. I think we’ve played pretty good defense behind our pitchers, as well. (Mac) Rose, the other day, (Colin) Barczi the other day, as catchers. And then the outfield defense has been a little bit tricky, and always is here because you’ve got to cover a lot of ground, but the wind blowing in today made it difficult in left field for the outfielders, but it’s just that. It’s just getting the ball to the plate, getting the big outs, and playing good defense.”
On the great strikeout numbers:
“Yes, I mean, I don’t take that for granted. You’ve got two teams — the one we played today, even I feel like they’re an Omaha team from a pitching standpoint and a hitting team, as well. They had to come through the back ends of this tournament, which is very difficult to do. It’s a lot of games, a lot of baseball.
“But yeah, as far as an offense that we faced yesterday or the day before yesterday and today, yeah, they’re good offenses. Not necessarily looking at strikeouts as being a deal, but it became a deal just because of how the pitchers were throwing.”
On how much confidence can be had from finding your identity at this point in the season:
“It’s easy to say this after a win, but I think the biggest piece of the team, and Riley (Nelson) mentioned it, and I think it’s important, it’s trust. Trust is not easy to come by. But when you have guys that are reliant on one another, it’s like, okay, I didn’t pick them up, but I know he’s going to pick them up. But really believe that. That’s a difference maker.
“I think the team has really, really grown together.
“I think as a parent, you always hope your kids grow together, and as a coach, you always hope that that’s the case during the course of the season. There’s no better feeling than giving them the keys to the car and letting them drive, knowing that they’ll drive safely but aggressively enough to where they’ll get to their destination, and that’s all I care about.”
