Tennessee baseball blew a ninth inning lead only for Tyler Myatt to play hero with a walk-off home run on Friday night as the Vols knocked off Kent State 4-3 in the series opener.
Following the matchup, Elander discussed giving up free passes, Myatt being ready for his opportunity and more. Here’s everything Elander said.
More From RTI: Local Natives Play Hero As Tennessee Baseball Walks Off Kent State
On the passing of Tennessee sports writer Wes Rucker
“All right, as you guys all know, we suffered a tragic loss in the Knoxville community here with the passing of Wes Rucker, and Wes has been a day-one guy for us. I’ve got to know him over the last nine years, and I’m going to miss seeing him here, and I just want to give a heartfelt— just sending love and good vibes to his family, especially his wife Lauren, his son Hank, and his daughter on the way. We’re going to miss seeing him here, and he was always good and fair to us. Wish them nothing but the best moving forward. That’s from everybody here at Tennessee Baseball and the athletic department as a whole.”
On what he learned about his team finding a way to win after blowing a late lead
“Yeah, I mean, I think honestly we kind of stole one tonight. That’s a really good team. They’re coached very, very well with some older players that are very talented and not scared and have been tested over the years. And, again, I think we had nine free 90 feets we gave up tonight, so that’s the opposite of the MO we’ve been preaching, so I think we really got away with one. I thought we played some great defense that bailed us out, and Tyler Myatt bailed us out. What a swing there, just a low heart rate there at the end. But our thought process has always been, if we get to hit last on our field, we feel we have better chances. So that was good tonight, but there’s a lot of things we need to do better.”
On if Tyler Myatt was always going to be up in that spot in the ninth
“Yeah, I think he was the only choice there. I mean, again, he’s doing such a great job. I mean, sometimes, guys are not in the lineup, and they want to pout about it. But he handled everything the right way. Had a great day yesterday of prep, and then we’re working on hitting two seams and runners yesterday, and we get the matchup we want, and it’s really cool when guys put in the work and then are just ready when the moment calls.”
On what adjustments Myatt has made since the fall
“I think number one is not trying to do too much, right? I mean, with his statistics that he put up— I mean, they’re some of the best maybe in the last 15 years in junior college baseball. So everybody knew his name and what he was able to do, and then also I think the competitive element was, ‘Hey, can you do it at this level?’ Right? And that’s part of the reason he’s excited to be here, because he wants to prove that he can. But again, there’s just an adjustment period, I think, for everybody. New place and learning new people and all that. But he’s been tremendous so far.”
On how proud he was of local guys Tyler Myatt and Brady Frederick having their moments
“We just talk about, ‘When it gets hot in the kitchen, you want to have each other’s backs,’ right? And a lot of times, when guys are young, they get real emotional or out of control, and it can affect their decision-making in the box and in the moment.
“We really preach, ‘Just, hey,’ I know it’s coachy, but ‘next pitch and next task’ or whatever. But we love the depth of this roster. It’s cool to see Brady [Frederick] pick up Bo [Rhudy] tonight, and I still have complete confidence in Bo, and I will moving forward. It was really good seeing [Brayden] Krenzel throw the ball, too. I thought it was really just a complete team effort tonight with a game that we honestly got away with winning.”
On what contributed to hitting six batters
“I think it’s just a veteran group over there that’s not afraid to put their toes on the line and go to work, right? Sometimes guys will box adjust based on different pitchers or profiles or whatnot, but it’s a team that can beat you in a lot of different ways, whether it be good defense, good pitching, or taking ninety feet. They can steal bases and do a lot of things.
“Credit to them. If they’re going to do it and get away with it and be right there and we’re going to hit them, then it’s going to give their offense more chances to have success.”
On Tegan Kuhns’ outing
“Any day I get to write Teagan Kuhns’ name in the lineup, I feel good, to pitch for us. He’s just an elite competitor. I thought he wavered a little bit, like the velocity kind of fluctuated a little bit, more so than last week because I would like to let him kind of finish that inning.”
On why it was important to have Wes Rucker’s press box memorial
“We talk about family with Tennessee Athletics or Tennessee all the time, and I’ve seen Wes – I mean, he was here just this last Tuesday. It kind of shook me up a little bit, to be honest, and being a parent as well, like, it’s tough. So, really just for his wife and son, I know we have great people at Tennessee that make this place great, and they’ll be there to support him through this for sure.”
