Tennessee baseball head coach Josh Elander shared his thoughts following the Vols devastating 16-15 series-sweeping loss to Vanderbilt in Nashville Sunday.
Elander discussed how his team needs to respond after such a tough loss, what was different about Evan Blanco early, if Trent Grindlinger has earned more opportunities, what led to improved success for Blaine Brown and more.
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See everything Elander said below.
On how the team can respond from this weekend…
“It’s a gutting, gutting game. Tough, tough weekend. And our guys just need to get back off the mat. There’s plenty of conference play left, and we can talk about being in these games, but you got a five-run lead in the ninth – you got to attack the strike zone and go do it. Better response from our offense today. We’re far from playing anywhere near our best baseball. Got four games at home next week and we just need to get going because it ain’t going to be any easier. That’s the part of this league. Our guys will and can respond.”
O if there is any further update on Stone Lawless…
“No update yet. It was a really scary deal and hope he’s okay. Got him right in that orbital socket. And again, scary, scary deal. Hope he’s okay.”
On the difference in the approach at the plate…
“Trent (Grindlinger) did good coming off the bench and I thought the guys swung the bat well coming back-and-forth. Just a weird game with the way the ball was playing. A very offensive day all the way around.”
On if Trent Grindlinger will see more opportunities…
“Yeah, absolutely.”
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On what led to the success today for Blaine Brown…
“Just a different mindset, body language. Coming out and just playing baseball after a tough first two days. But he’s a really good player. We need to see more of that.”
On what was different about Evan Blanco today…
“I think, again, just getting the ball in the air. The ball was really, really carrying and missing with the off-speed pitches. He wasn’t as crisp around. He gave us enough to give us a chance to stay in the game. But Abraham was the story of the day. Doing really, really well.”
On what was so impressive from Nic Abraham…
“Just changing speeds and keeping the ball down. The way the ball flew all day long, that’s what we needed to do, and he did a good job of that. Just kind of ran out of gas there late.”
