Tennessee baseball got back in the win column on Tuesday night as its offense exploded in a 20-2 seven inning run-rule victory over Tennessee Tech on Tuesday night. The Vols scored nine runs in the first inning and never looked back in their final tuneup before SEC play.
Following the win, Tennessee head coach Josh Elander met with the media and discussed the change in offensive approach, Manny Marin staying hot and much more. Here’s everything Elander said.
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On what changed at the plate from Sunday to Tuesday
“I just think really all the credit goes to the guys today. I think it was a good mindset shift, and nobody was happy with how Sunday went, but that’s clearly in the rear view mirror now. And I think again, that’s a good thing we can look back to that first inning, what our guys are capable of doing when they stay hooked up, and they’re on the hunt out there. Again, baseball is very simple. You’re either on the hunt or you’re getting hunted, right? So that was the thing that was so frustrating about last Sunday, but really good response for our guys tonight really one to nine, and Garrett setting the tone, hitting the ball out of the yard. But again, guys getting on top of the baseball and not being in between. It was really cool to see.”
On what he likes about Garrett Wright in the leadoff spot
“We just look at the numbers like we’re trying to get in spots where Henry’s got guys, or ducks on the pond in front of him, right? And I still got a ton of confidence up there with Jay, but had a little bit of tough sledding for him up there. So I just want to give him a breather, get him down the lineup a little bit. But again, we joke about the hit by pitches, but the guy is a winning player. He does things that get on base, and then you got some guys that can leave the yard behind him stacked up. It seems to be a good little mix that we’ll roll with for a minute.”
On what it does when they get the at-bats they did from two-three-four in the lineup
“I think it just lets everybody exhale a little bit, right? I mean, we’ve played some close games, and sometimes guys try to do too much. Really the theme when we talked about the guys today was, like, being in control of your effort level and then understanding, ‘Hey, what is my pitch selection and where am I making contact, at what point in the count?’ So again, when you struggle, it’s easy to try to look at X, Y, Z. But a lot of times it’s the beauty of the simplicity of what you’re trying to do, and I thought our guys did a really good job doing that today.”
On if they thought of Garrett Wright as a leadoff guy entering the year of if he’s changed their outlook
“Yeah, I think, I mean, Jay’s skill set, I think, naturally looks there. And then Henry and I had a ton of conversations where he liked the comfort with that spot. So that’s where we kind of went between those two. But I think our lineup is going to continue to evolve throughout the course of the year, right? Guys will get hot, and then there’s ebbs and flows of guys getting in there and getting out of the lineup. But, again, I like the way it stacked up tonight.”
On adjustments that Manny Marin has made
“Chuck’s done a great job with him. I think it’s just a mentality shift. That’s all it was, right? I mean, sometimes, again, that sophomore year, you don’t get out of the gates how you like. You hit a couple balls hard and they get caught. All of a sudden, you start swinging a little bit harder, doing a little bit too much. So again, I think it was just making the decision, realizing Manny is a really good baseball player, right? And I tell our guys whether things are going good or bad swinging the bag, you’re always one swing away from whether it’s that four-for-four game or five-for-five game. It’s hiding somewhere throughout this schedule. You don’t get to decide when it shows up. But what I want our guys to really focus on is, regardless of results, you need to make sure you’re paying the tole every day to put yourself in a position to have success, and then just making sure that how you attack each day is separate of just the results from the day before.
“So he’s been really good about kind of attacking each day with early work with Kev and then with Chuck, and then with swings and stuff we’ve all been working on with him.”
On if Manny Marin is one of those guys that is ‘planting the flag’ in the lineup
“Yeah, I think so. He’s done it, right? I just think for him, it’s never been a question of can he do it or not. It’s just a mentality deal and how you show up to the yard. We talk about with our team all the time, the power of one. It could take one guy to smear the locker room for the day, right? And so our guys being cognizant of that and making the right decisions – Manny (Marin) hasn’t done anything wrong in that way – I just think attacking each day more like a pro and then just knowing he can have success because he’s been in a good spot.”
On what he’s learned about his team in the pre-conference slate
“Yeah, I think there’s still more to learn. That’s why I try to get Jax (Bishop) in there tonight, and some of those guys are coming back from injury, working hard, but I feel good about (Taylor) Tracey and what he’s doing. And then EB (Ethan Baiotto) threw the ball well today, but I think Tegan (Kuhns) and obviously (Landon) Mack, what those guys bring, I think there’s some competitiveness there that we like going in.
“Our two points of focus looking forward to tomorrow are playing better defense and holding runners, and we’ve done that up to this point. And then offensively, we are very far from our ceiling, finding the right nine, and I just want our guys to compete because there may be a game where we have to play 10 or 11 different offensive guys or do this at this point of the game or go defensive at this side.”
“So, a lot of things to learn, but those are our two points of emphasis. That’s why you come to Tennessee, is to play in this league, right? So, I’m excited to see how our guys handle the challenge this weekend.”
On his message to Ethan Baiotto when he met with him on the mound
“Just that he’s got really good stuff. I think at times, like, I don’t understand – it’s part of growing up as a player, but the coaching staff believes in you more than you believe in you. I think part of that is getting him back out there more and more and helping him realize, like, hey, I know they look up and see the stadium or whatever it may be, but their stuff is plenty good enough, whether it be from an objective measure or what we’re seeing.
“My message was, ‘Hey, your stuff is really good. Go get this guy. You don’t need to feather it in there,’ or whatever it may be. He’s a guy we think very highly of, and the stuff is really, really good. He needs to be a big piece for us, and it was a good response by him right there.”
On where is team is in terms of what he anticipated versus the reality heading into SEC play
“That’s a good question. It may sound weird for me to even admit this, but you really never know what you got until you get in the league. It’s so competitive, and then the rosters change so much each year. Every school has their style of how they go about the portal or homegrown guys or junior college guys. There’s a lot of changes in rosters.
“I just want our guys to compete the right way and make sure that we’re having the behaviors and the habits that put us in a position to have success over the long term. That’s where our focus has been, on us in-house, and I think as we continue to get healthier and get some of these younger, talented guys some at-bats, I truly believe our best baseball is ahead.”
On Georgia
“I honestly think it’s a little bit of bad luck to look too far ahead, so we haven’t really dove in yet. But, you know, they got some big guys in the portal last year on the mound, right? They bring in a lot of guys each year in the portal, and that style has worked for them. The park plays extremely offensive this time of the year down there. So I haven’t dove into the numbers yet, but I’m sure they’re hitting the ball out of the yard. And it’s power versus power. I worked with Wes (Johnson) at Arkansas, so that’s kind of been his style, and he knows the league, and has done a good job there. So we’re just looking for good competition, right? And we’re gonna have plenty of it this week down in Athens.”
On if Tennessee sophomore Levi Clark’s struggles offensively have been more about his approach or fundamental; if his walk late against Tennessee Tech can spark him
“Yeah, I hope it does because I truly — he’s a great player. You know, he was really good in the Cape last year. He was really good for us in the fall. And then, you know, sometimes you get stuck in the mud or lost in the woods a little bit. It’s our job to bring him back. I think we can all agree it hasn’t gone like we thought it would this far. But everyone kinda gets to hit the reset button going into SEC play, right? Everybody’s gonna be 0-0 in conference play, and then everyone looks at conference versus out-of-conference stats. So anything he wants to accomplish is still right in front of him. I think, again, just being more cognizant of what’s working for him or what’s not. But I think it was a combination of a lot of things, but a lot of it is (he) just needs to take a deep breath. You know, he was joking that, he remembered where first base was tonight when he got that walk. So that was good to have a little comedic relief because when you can feel that tension and everybody’s rooting for him, he’s one of the greatest kids. We want him to have success. And I thought the fans did a great job of, you know, again, doing the old Billy Amick clap or whatever, them having his back through that. ‘Cause there will be big moments that will win games because of Levi Clark, but he’s gotta continue to grind away because there’s nobody coming to save him. He’s gotta do it.”
