Tennessee baseball came from behind to walk-off Wright State 4-3 in the series opener on Friday night in Knoxville. The Vols got high level production out of their bullpen and pieced enough timely hitting together to pull off the win.
Following the game, Tennessee head coach Josh Elander discussed the walk-off hit, pitching performances and much more. Here’s everything Elander said.
More From RTI: Tennessee Baseball Walks Off Series Opener Against Wright State
On cutting down the runner in the sixth
“I thought it was good, and we’ve been practicing those first-and-third deals a bunch, and Craig (Bell) and Chuck (Jeroloman) have brought a good, little kind of different flavor to how we’re handling those. But just to see Arv (Brandon Arvidson) in that count, two outs and two strikes or whatever it may be – I know there were two outs, don’t remember exactly what the count was – but our guys are trained to be on alert and ready to play catch. They did a really good job executing, not only playing catch, but the rundown, and that was a big out and a turning point in the game.”
On what the ‘new flavor’ looks like
“I think it’s just how we go about it, the verbiage and ‘Hey, what are your responsibilities based on if we’re throwing through or not, or throwing straight to third base. So, again, a lot of the fundamental stuff is the same, but just how we teach it is a little bit different.”
On what went into the call for Manny Marin to pull the bunt back
“So it’s funny, I watched a ton of video going in and basically with a runner at second, straight up, they’ve kind of just tried to get an out, right? But obviously at that point in the game, it kind of just – we’ve been over there a while – just reminded me of how Vanderbilt has done some stuff like that. Usually, in that situation, you have to move the guy to third base, but if they’re gonna leave the middle of the field open, and the guys are under control and don’t try to take too big of a swing – there’s so much surface area – all they have to do is basically just make contact with it.
“We talked about it. We got the look, and Manny pulled it back, executed exactly how he’s coached to do, and then great job by him not trying to do too much. The middle of the field’s open, and he gets the pitch and drives it through. It was a good moment for Manny.”
On if Jay Abernathy is showing how dangerous of a weapon he can be
“He’s just a great baseball player. He’s the greatest kid, too. In the recruiting process, getting to know him and his family, and going down to Atlanta and watching him play, but he was a high school shortstop, right? So again, that play he makes running in tonight, that’s not an easy play to make. He’s a little bit more depth, we’re trying to keep the ball in front, and making that throw on the run… again, making some adjustments, getting the heaters down, not chasing. The Ks are up a little bit maybe at this point, but the walks are going up, too.”
“He’ll continue to make adjustments, but he’s got some good mojo going where you can kind of tell, he’s hitting the right buttons as we get closer to SEC play that will put him in a spot to have success.”
On if he thought Garrett Wright would make such a quick impact
“We hoped so, right? In the portal when we went out and got him. He’s just a gritty, hard-nosed throwback baseball player, right? Our guys, you see when he gets hit by a pitch again tonight, I think they have as much fun with that as actually winning a ballgame. But, it was cool. He went up there and he was like, ‘Hey, I’m going to get a heater right here and I’m going to handle it.’ Just the maturity and being able to execute… the guy has got a lot of good tools, and he likes to play ball. He’s fitting in good with our crew.”
On if it was full-send for Jay Abernathy the entire time in the seventh inning
“We always talk about being aggressive, not reckless. That was clearly reckless by me, to be honest. But just at the point of the game, like Jay (Abernathy) bailed me out. He can change the game with his speed, but I thought at that point, sometimes with two outs you have to just trust your guys and have them make a play, and Jay did a phenomenal job. We’ll always be aggressive with two outs over there, but that was big because again, I think it let our guys kind of relax a little bit. We got away with one there, though, for sure.”
On how critical junior RHP Brady Frederick has been to Tennessee’s bullpen recently
“Yeah, I mean, I love having him down there, and he just — what’s cool with him is he can get ready in two seconds. I mean, he’s ready. He always (is like), ‘Hey, I’m ready. I’m ready.’ I look down (to the bullpen) and he hasn’t even thrown a pitch in the pen yet. But again, I’m comfortable in so many different roles. If we need a ground ball, if we need a fastball up for a punch or, hey, just lefties, righties. It’s a really, really good piece to have down there, and he’s gonna be in a lot of big moments for us this year.”
On how often Tennessee works on slashing at the plate, his confidence in sophomore infielder Manny Marin to execute in that situation
“Yeah, all the time. We have our — really Wednesday is always our situational execution day, where we kind of line it up. So that’s (one) when we gotta be a little careful with. I mean, we don’t want guys slashing balls at our own players, so we’ve gone to even putting screens on the field to give them kind of a look or whatever it may be.
“But, you know, Manny’s been in the program a while now. It’s one we talk about, and again, it’s one thing to talk about, but you gotta execute in those big moments. Because a lot of times you either get the bunt down or you don’t. You execute the — and there’s no redos after that, so it was really cool to see him calm in that moment. We got the look that we wanted and then executed that.”
On electing to start junior Ariel Antigua at shortstop and if sophomore Chris Newstrom was available
“Yeah, (Newstrom) was available. No, great question. I’ll be honest, I went back and forth on it a ton. I mean, laying in bed thinking about it or whatever. Leanin’ on my staff, I just thought with Jay (Abernathy) going back from center to second, I thought Ariel, the way he commands the field, would bring some stability there in the middle. And the way that Tegan’s been throwing the ball, and again, Ariel’s fully capable of doing it. We all know that. We’ve seen what he’s done out there, right? I met with all three of those guys yesterday. I was honest with them where I was at, and again, we’re gonna continue to mix and match, but it was really cool to see. Obviously would’ve loved to get Newy in the game at any point, fully capable of helping us win any ballgame. But you know, Ariel being a good teammate, dropping a bunt down, that’s one he wanted to do on his own right there. And then Manny, like I tell the guys all the time, be patient, but stay ready, ’cause you never know. That moment like he had tonight can be right around the corner, whether you start the game or you don’t.”
On how he would you assess Tennessee sophomore RHP Tegan Kuhns’ outing:
“I thought it was fine. A little bit — he just looked like he was wavering a little bit more. I mean, credit to Wright State. I mean, they were taking some comfortable swings. It was the first time I’ve kind of been on my heels a little bit watching him throw. It’s one thing if you’re walking guys or hitting guys, but attacking the strike zone, he’s always gonna compete, so we always got a chance when T’s out on the mound. But again, I thought with some of those comfortable swings and (velocity) kind of fluctuating a little bit, I just thought it was time to go to Arv (Brandon Arvidson) right there. But you know, it’ll be good. We had the pitch count a little bit lower — big picture — so going into next week, we’ll get him rested up and ready to go.”
On Tegan Kuhns’ velocity being down a little bit, if Tennessee is concerned about it at all
“No, not at all. I think it was a beautiful night. Vol Nation was amazing. Cool to see the light show and everything, but I think the humidity and stuff, the first night game. I mean, I asked him after the game, I said, ‘Hey, was there any change in your routine yesterday or whatever?’ So kind of navigating some of that free time, that’s part of becoming a premier starter, which I think that’s what he is. So he can look back at that and make some adjustments, and he’ll be ready to go next week.”
On being able to go from Tegan Kuhns to Brandon Arvidson
“It’s a great feeling having Arv down there. He’s really pitched, we were talking about it today, I mean, he’s pitched on the road in big environments. He’s pitched, really outside of Omaha, he’s checked a lot of boxes. So again, fully capable of now as we get his pitch count up, I believe he’s had him close to 50 tonight. That was kind of the cap of what we were looking for. I mean, again, it basically you feel like we’re piggybacking those two right there, and then what Frederick brings and Rhudy and those other guys as well. But we’ll continue to stretch out Arv because he’s a competitor. It’s a really tough one.”
On what he liked about Brady Frederick’s composure in the ninth inning
“Just the consistency, whether it’s the first inning on Tuesday or the ninth inning— it’s just a guy, when he’s out there on the mound, I know he’s going to attack the strike zone. He’s gonna compete. And again, that’s a really, really good feeling. If you’re going to beat Brady Frederick, you’re going to have to string some hits together. And if you look at the way he throws, it’s hard to prepare for. There’s really nothing, no machine or anything that can kind of replicate what he does. So again, we’ve kind of looked at what is the best space to use him, but he doesn’t mind it when the kitchen gets hot, so it’s a good feeling to have him out there at any point.”
On Brandon Arvidson’s outing, the importance of him bouncing back from a poor showing in Texas
“Yeah, I thought it was good. I mean, we talked about it. He’s my fungo buddy, so I’m hitting early. It’s a good time. We all kind of chop it up a little bit, and we were just talking about, ‘Hey, what was different in Texas,’ right? He was just kind of wanting to hand him the ball, and we had a little conversation there. But again, I think sometimes it’s those guys go out there, regardless of how much they’ve played, they can feel off, whether it’s a new environment or whatnot. And then sometimes the only thing that gets you better is you got to get right back out there. So I thought it was good to get him out there tonight. But again, the fastball— I saw 95 (mph) for the first time, which was good. And then threw some really good change-ups, and then some overhand breaking balls like he always does. So he’s going to compete, and I just thought he had a better mindset today, kind of attacking the zone. He’s going to be a huge piece for us.”
On how he would assess where the offense is at
“Yeah, I think, again, that’s fair from everybody, ‘Hey, why aren’t we hitting .350 as a team?’ or whatever it may be. I know we’ve been fortunate to do that. But again, these guys are taking some good swings, right? I mean, I know Blaine, the first baseman, I mean, tonight made some tremendous plays. I mean, we got to hit balls in better windows. But baseball, I get it too. You either get it done or you don’t. There’s no credit for almost or if you hit a ball at this, at that. Again, so we just want to keep our guys in the right head space, right? Where they know, hey, it’s 3-1, 5-1, whatever it may be. We’re still one inning away. We just need to kind of put some at-bats together. So, again, it could be better, there’s no doubt about it.
But I think big picture, some of those guys, I mean, they need to make the decision. Because if you keep pressing and trying to do too much and being in between, it’s not a recipe for success. And as we get closer to SEC play, these guys have the answers to the test, and they need to make the decisions and get it done.”
