Tennessee baseball took care of business in its final midweek matchup of the season, run-ruling Belmont 11-1 in eight innings at Lindsey Nelson Stadium.
Following the game, Tennessee head coach Josh Elander talked the Vols capping off the season a perfect 14-0 in midweek games, hitting six home runs and much more. Here’s everything Elander said.
More From RTI: Tennessee Baseball Becomes First SEC Program To Achieve This Feat
On Nic Abraham giving Tennessee a long outing
“I just wanted, you know, with the short week you got to look at the whole week. But, again, wanted to attack today, and I really just wanted our guys to compete over the white of the plate. I thought he did a really good job of that. And no walks. And Belmont is incredibly aggressive, if you look at any metric, I mean, they’re swinging from the first pitch. So he did a really good job of changing speeds, and our guys played some great defense behind him. And I thought Jay, who hadn’t been out there in a minute, was really good at second base, but yeah, that was the plan. It was good to get the two young lefties in there and get Brady Frederick back in there. We’ll need all those guys down the stretch. But really good job by Ab(raham) giving us some length on a Tuesday, because it’s a little bit different how we’ve navigated it over the last month or so.”
On what’s the key for Nic Abraham’s command
“Well, I think a lot of it is he throws strikes. He always has, it’s just in some moments maybe some change ups get away from him. But again, he just needs to attack it like he did today. Just low pulse, really sinking the baseball. Guys swinging over the top of it and strikes is a good strategy always, regardless of who you’re playing or where you’re playing. And I think again, if he takes that mentality like he pitched today in any, any other game we have, he’ll give us a chance.”
On how much he enjoyed watching Hunter High’s game-ending homer
“I mean, looking at some guys like Reese Chapman, that’s the one thing I missed. I wanted to get Reese on the field and let him walk off and enjoy the moment. Hunter High ruined that. But in all seriousness, Hunter High is a guy again that’s been a true like program grinder, and has waited his turn and continues to get better. And we always tell him to stay patient, but be ready. And pretty cool moment for him. And it’s just like when our fans tonight, the way they cheer for Antigua when he comes off the bench for the first time in a while, and then you get the response from our dugout, like that’s everything you really need to know about how they go about their business, and really cool moment for him and to go oppo too. Have a little cherry on top of that.”
On hitting 100-plus home runs for a fifth straight season
“We’ve been fortunate to be around some really good players. Again. I know, I was texting with Burke earlier today, all those guys. Again, we’ve been very, very fortunate around here. And again, those are great players, and they hit a lot of homers, that’s for sure. But different ways, I mean, different offenses. But in all seriousness, we joked, I think one year we hit 98 so if we were any good, we would have hit 100 that year too. But it’s been cool to see. To do that over a half decade stretch with a bunch of different guys, lefties, righties. It’s a really cool little feather in the cap for everybody and the players that have been here before.”
On the new home run celebration, if he knew who came up with it
“No, I’m out of the loop on that completely, to be honest. And I saw the hockey stick and the mask. And there might be a culprit in this room, but we’ll see, but it’s probably Coach Kivott, knowing him. He’s a big hockey, Ohio guy. But hey, I’m good with it as long as they respect the game when they get off the field and then again in the dugout, any prop they want. I’m all for it if they keep hitting homers.”
On the team briefly snubbing Henry Ford after his home run
“Yeah, well, it hasn’t been the smoothest go over the last week or so. And again, Henry Ford, the whole year is circled. How do you not let Henry Ford beat you? And for him to be able to put up the numbers that he has now with double-digit homers and 50-plus RBIs, and going through the sickness and just grinding through— his toughness has been incredible for us. But just wanted to be a light hearted moment. I mean, sometimes all you need is one swing and then you’re right back. So that was cool and he crushed that thing. Didn’t have a couple good ABs that weren’t good early just to make that adjustment. So we just wanted him. It’s supposed to be fun this time of year is about playing with your teammates. Playing to win, and having fun. So that was cool to see those guys again, make that moment where he hopefully just exhales a little bit, because I got 100% confidence he’s going to be really good for us down the stretch.”
On Tennessee going undefeated in midweek games this season for the first time this century
“You said this century? It’s one thing we talk about, is even back, you know, being here — this is my ninth year. I was looking into today, and I actually — I didn’t tell the players — but I texted one of our guys (and) said, ‘have we ever done this?’ I think it’s just respect for college baseball and how competitive it can be each day, and anybody can win on any day. I remember being the number one team here, we lost to Lipscomb at home this time of year, another great program. But to be able to do it over a long period of time and have a big sample size and be consistent and win in different ways, I think that’s a really good sign, but also just credit to our players, because they’re the ones that do it.
“But that’s a that’s a good feather in the cap. You need to protect your home turf when you play at home on midweek games, and that’ll be something we can lean on for the years to come, too.”
On the trend in college baseball to cancel midweek games for RPI reasons, why Tennessee feels the need to play them
“Yeah, I think it goes back to — I spent a lot of time with Tony Vitello, played for him in college. Like, competition is king. You get better at baseball by playing baseball. The one thought I talked about on the radio today is, I remember we had a cancelation during the COVID year, and we found a way to go on a bus and go play a game four hours away. I think if you talk about in recruiting and you want to get better, and player development — like our Tuesday games, especially. Coach (Ross) Kivett, what he’s done with our defense and what they’ve been able to do over the course of the year. It’s not by accident. They’re working every day on Tuesday at 12 o’clock, and they’re doing all their work. If you stack those days consistently, the idea is the players can get better and even guys like Hunter High who were hitting early, or whatever it may be.
“But how any other program does it, that’s up to them. I mean, there’s a lot of reasons. I don’t want to speak for anybody else, but I know around here for a long, long time, if you got a chance to play ball, we want to play ball.”
On how to balance the pitching staff with the quick turnaround to begin a Thursday-Saturday series at Oklahoma
“Well, I think Nic Abraham helped us with that a lot tonight, being able to pitch into the sixth inning was big, but you know, this time of year, everybody’s gonna be a little banged up in some capacity. It’s about finding a way to get it done. So I know it’ll be a different and unique experience not being on campus and in Norman, with us being at Oklahoma City. It’s a really cool ballpark. I haven’t been there in probably nine or 10 years now, but it’ll be a little bit different flavor. As long as I’ve been here, we’ve never played a series at a minor league park (for an) SEC series. So we’ll get on the plane and get over there and get to work.”
On if there’s an update on injured Tennessee pitcher Landon Mack (general arm soreness)
“Yeah, nothing yet. I mean, he’s been moving around, which is a good sign. He’s been playing catch, and him and I just talked, basically, ‘hey,’ in the dugout pregame, briefly after I got done throwing BP. So it’ll be a day-to-day deal, no major updates. But again, like I said, we’re never going to put him in a position unless he’s 100% convicted and ready to go. But that’s more of it’ll be a day-to-day thing from here on out.”
On if he anticipates Tegan Kuhns starting Game 1 and Evan Blanco starting Game 2 against Oklahoma; if he’s concerned about pitching on short rest
“Yeah, I don’t think (there’s any concern about starting them on short rest). I know we’ve had one of these before. I know Tegan, talking to him yesterday, he said he feels as good as he ever has, which is a really good sign of how well he threw the ball. But I think what that is, is the compound effect of him having weeks and weeks of making good decisions and recovering, and his nutrition. We talk about you want to be good at the end, that’s when those habits start to show up right now, as the weather gets warmer. And then Blanco is as mature as a person that we’ve ever had as a player. So yeah, no concerns with those two. Those two are feeling good, but we’ll dive into OU stuff tonight, since we’re done a little bit early, but it’ll be some combination of those two at the beginning.”
On what he knows about Oklahoma at this point
“Just always a good program. Again, they’re coached at a very high level. I was recruited by Skip (Johnson) back in the day when he was at a different school. The offense is aggressive. They steal a bunch of bases, and then again, too, they have some transfers. They move some guys in, do some different things, but we’ll completely dive into it as we go. But this time of year, it’s going to be a good opponent on the road in the SEC. So each flavor is a little different, but we’ll see what we got a little bit more tomorrow.”
