Tennessee baseball’s offense again struggled as Ole Miss knocked off the Vols 8-1 on Saturday afternoon in Knoxville. The Vols totaled just two hits while Cam Appenzeller struggled on the mound.
Following the game, Elander discussed the offensive struggles, how they use the shift defensively and much more. Here’s everything Elander said.
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On what Cade Townsend was doing well in his start for Ole Miss
“He was doing a lot of things well. Just fastball up to 97 (mph) – cutter, curveball, changeup, splitter. He just had it all working. And I thought it was two big leaguers going at it tonight with Tegan (Kuhns) and Cade (Townsend). But we had no answers for him offensively. So, we need to continue to make adjustments because (he) had us in-between all night. Weren’t staying to the off-speed pitches and chasing heaters up. It’s not a good formula for success against an arm like that.”
On where the Tennessee offense is right now
“Two very frustrating days in a row. Credit to Mississippi’s pitching staff, they’ve done a good job. But again, whether it be approach or process, we’ve had some good days with that, but we’re not getting the results that we want. So going to have to make some adjustments. I think a lot of it is guys just trying too hard. At some point, those guys have to – when they get in those big moments – just relax and compete for their teammates instead of trying to get the big hit. We had chances against Townsend a few times. Same narrative as last night. We don’t have a way to get it done. So, it’s frustrating, but it is baseball and it’s good arms we’re facing. So again, a lot of baseball left. We just need to continue to make adjustments because what we’ve been doing the last two nights has not worked for us.”
On how discouraging it is to do stuff well and then revert back to playing like they are this weekend
“Yeah, I think each weekend is mutually exclusive in this league. If you look around, it’s showing up all over the place. But to me, it’s the same. We talked with the team about limiting free passes and making sure that the process of us getting to the wins – what does that look like when we have won or when we haven’t won? And giving up some free passes and not having some competitive at-bats. But again, when you got no runs there in the seventh inning, that’s not a good strategy regardless of which opponent that you’re playing.”
On why the offense couldn’t make an adjustment today
“I think part of it was (Cade) Townsend was really good. I mean, really, really good stuff. And then even (Landon) Waters comes in and mix and matches and they bring the two guys back again for the second day. But it’s a different little bit of a pitch mix. Guys are up to 97- 98 (mph) and they’re not throwing a lot of fastballs. So, there’s some cutters, sliders. Some of the pitches blend, but credit to their pitching staff. They’ve been phenomenal the last two days. But we’ve had chances. We’ve got to be able to drive in some runs and guys being in between and freezing with two strikes or not using the whole field or getting in bad counts because you’re chasing pitches up or down – it’s not a good strategy.”
On what was different about Cam Appenzeller today
“He’s been amazing for us the whole year, like you said. I have a ton of confidence in him. I thought the tempo in his delivery was a little bit just out of sync at times, going a little bit too fast and very uncharacteristic of him to walk anybody. But at that point in the game, just credit to Mississippi. You walk two guys and then you give up a 90 feet by catching the ball. They just flick a ball to left field and all of a sudden, in a game where runs are clearly going to be a premium, you hand them one. So, that’s where we need to be better because we’ve been at points in these games where, hey, it’s closer. I know it got ugly there late, but the same thing, you got to attack the strike zone and keep the ball in front and those little things that add up over the course of the deal. And then, we’ve got to be better offensively. That was everything we talked about with the team today.”
On if he’s surprised that he’s still talking about guys trying to do too much at the plate
“Great question. Definitely frustrating. I wish there was a button you could press to get them to, ‘hey, relax.’ But I think it’s because it means a lot to these guys. And our fans were amazing today. They created an unbelievable environment and they’re playing to win. They just have to relax and play ball. It should be just at any point, regardless of the pressure of the situation, this is a kids’ game. They should be having fun and competing and be excited for challenges.
And I think, again, as a lot of these players go through the league for the first time. They’re getting some expensive experience, but we’ve had both sides of it now. So my challenge to them is,when you look back at the night when the game’s over with, why are we having success or why are we not? And let’s make sure that we’re looking at those habits and those decisions. So when we are in that spot again, we don’t continue to make the same mistake again.”
On seeing Stone Lawless catching again
“Yeah, it was a bright spot there for sure. I mean, he’s a great kid and worked really hard to get back out there. Our medical staff has been amazing and he brings a lot to our team and it’s good to see him back out there.”
On what’s allowed Tegan Kuhns to be better with runners on base his last two starts
“Well, the simple part is just the math equation of being quicker to the plate. Just making it a point of emphasis that when you get a guy on base, he shouldn’t be able to just walk to second base. And he’s been phenomenal responding to that. He went from 1.5-1.6 to 1.7 (seconds) at times at the plate. Now he’s 1.25 and mixing in pickoffs. And I think just the tempo of him getting to the plate has allowed guys, hitters on the other team to not be as in sync at times. So credit to him for challenge there. We asked him to make that adjustment and it’s paying off for him.”
On walking the line with the shift and it biting them at times
“Yeah, I know that we track that. I trust our defensive staff and our analytic crew to put them in the right spot. I mean, the simple thought behind it is in the major leagues, they banned the shift because it’s very simple— it was creating more outs for the defense. And again, I trust my staff. They’ve been putting them in a good spot and I could get with those guys on the numbers, but I know over the course of the year so far, we’ve collected a lot of outs because they’ve been in a good spot. So, again, that’s easy to talk about when, hey, we don’t score runs or whatever it may be. It’s easy to look at those little pieces. But, again, complete faith in— I don’t know what our fielding percentage is, but that was a big point of emphasis this year, and they’ve been better so far. So we’ll keep moving those guys, and I’ll trust my staff to put them in the right spot.”
On his message to the team after the game
“Just hit the reset button as soon as we can. But undoubtedly, this is the biggest Sunday game that we’ve had so far this year, and you know, we’ll make some adjustments on how we go about pregame tomorrow, but it needs to be — the same thing that we talked about earlier this week that were the positives in Starkville that have been us is not keeping the ball in front when you got to do that, or giving up a free 90-feet. And again, Mississippi is a very, very talented team. Has another really, really good arm going tomorrow. So another great challenge for us, but we need to continue to make those adjustments, because I’m looking at the sheet, we got a lot of baseball left. We can make those adjustments. Just need to hit the reset button. (It’s) baseball. You get Sunday at your home field. Need to come out, have fun, be ready to compete.”
On what adjustments he might make pregame tomorrow
“Well, I think the easiest thing is we’ll cut down some of the reps. You know, we’ve usually done our sequencing and how we go through that. But I think it’s one, just the way the end of the game was, talking with the crew. It needs to be nothing really. There’s no physical changes. A lot of it right now for our crew, it needs to be mental changes, whether it be in the moment or how you go through or deal with winning or losing at this point. So we’ll get with the staff here and make sure that they’re fresh and ready to go tomorrow.”
On where Tennessee sophomore Blaine Brown is at right now in the box
“I think he took some great swings last night. I mean, crushed some balls. I mean, if that ball goes fair (in the first inning of Game 1), we may have a complete different conversation early in the game. But that’s not how this game works. You either do it or you don’t. I think his mindset has been really good. He’s obviously going through a little bit of a rough patch, but wildly talented. One swing away from getting hot right there. But his biggest issue has been, you talk about the shift, they’re shifting him a ton in the pool side, and kind of like a former player we had here, that again, balls are getting ripped in the four-hole, and here’s the defender sitting there, right there, waiting for it.
“So, you know, they’re doing a good job of pitching him. I know Townsend today goes (splitter), fastball up, slider, then jams a heater in at 97 (mph) so he’s a guy that can hurt you, and other teams know that. So he’s been circled and … he’s in the middle of that lineup, but all those guys top to bottom, we told them, you got to work together to play offense, and we need a little bit more from everybody.”
On who the leaders are on the team
“I think Reese (Chapman) is the easy one to look at, or Stone (Lawless), or Arv (Brandon Arvidson). There’s a lot of guys, I think, that the messaging has been consistent with the guys. Again, the door swings both ways. You have to be ready. This league can break you if you let it, but if you stay in it and make sure you’re paying attention to things that help you win, and staying away from the things that don’t. And really, Reese is the guy who knows that. Manny (Marin) knows that as well. Those are the few that have been in the league a bunch. But again, just another game on Sunday on our home field, we need to come out and be ready to go.”
