Tennessee baseball dropped its series-opener against Alabama 12-8 on Thursday night at Lindsey Nelson Stadium as the Vols’ pitching staff faltered.
Following the game, Tennessee head coach Josh Elander discussed free passes, how Friday’s doubleheader affects its pitching plan and more. Here’s everything Elander said.
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On what went wrong with the pitching and all the free passes
“Just really frustrating to watch. I mean, that’s as painful as… just to sit there, I mean over 20 free 90s, 10 walks, 6 hit-by-pitches. We talk about those guys all the time, we just want them to compete over the plate. I’d rather see a guy hit… four guys hit four home runs in a row than watch what we did. I don’t know if it’s lack of conviction or – there’s no excuses to be made – it was just really poor all the way around on the mound. We need to get better quickly and need to reset, flush, and be ready for tomorrow.”
On if there’s any similarities between the last two Landon Mack starts
“I think he was sped up today. There’s absolutely no doubt about it. With the weird balk that happened and just the command was not good today. Just a really weird deal. We’re three quarters of the way through the league, you want some consistency there. That’s something we talk about all the time. For whatever reason, he was not in a good spot out of the gates, and on a Friday night, you need length from your starter. We’ve got to be careful with the pen, especially with the weather that we were looking at coming in, but when he hits that guy in the head (Luke Vaughn) – I hope that guy’s okay – that was a clear indicator we needed to get him out of the game right there.
On what needs to be better in series openers after losing five of the past six
“To me, it’s very simple. We had over 20 free 90s that we gave up. It’s impossible to win in this league if you do that. I thought our hitters did a great job of competing, and you always win and lose as a team – that’s something we talk about – but it’s just not a formula for success in any metric that you look at. So, whether it be attacking the strike zone better or… you just can’t walk guys like that. We just need to compete over the white a little bit better.”
On if there has been a common denominator with Cam Appenzeller’s last two outings
“No, I don’t think so. He’s been nails for us up to the last two (outings) and he’s been competing. And a different deal right there. I’m looking here, he’s got a few walks in there. I think, again, some of the tempo stuff gets the balk called on him. Just needs to slow down a little bit at times. Tip of the cap, the guy (Eric Hines) crushed one down the left field line to be able to keep that ball true. Just wasn’t as crisp. Just top to bottom, where we threw out there tonight, it just wasn’t great.”
On why the pitchers have been sped up at times
“No. I’ll have to talk to Reyn (Pitching Coach Josh Reynolds) when we get done after this. We just want our guys to attack the strike zone. We told them it’s three-quarters of play at home. Our crowd does an unbelievable job creating an unbelievable environment. And from the gates, it feels like we’re kind of on the ropes, and that should not be the case when you’re on your home field. So, that’s something we’ll look at and we’re going to have to hit the reset button quickly because the one thing with Tegan Kuhns that’s been nice, he’s been getting out there competing. I’m glad he’s leading us into battle tomorrow.”
On if the pitching plan will change due to the doubleheader on Friday and if Evan Blanco will be available
“He’ll be available. Really everybody is available outside of Mack (Landon Mack) and Appy (Cam Appenzeller). Those would be the two – with getting over 70 pitches – not going to be able to bring those guys back. Trying to navigate that game, kind of a weird one with the back-and-forth and all the free 90s and free hit-by-pitches and stuff going out. But I told them after the game, you got to hit the reset button – flush. It’s all hands on deck tomorrow. You got to win the game you’re at and then go on from there.”
On if they pulled Vols sophomore RHP Brayden Krenzel after two batters because of the doubleheader
“A little bit. There was, you know, some lefty matchups in a row right there in the bottom of the lineup, and even at the top, some guys that haven’t hit those lefties as well. And then you’re down five at that point, you really don’t want to go (Chandler) Day or (Will) Haas in that spot. (Mark) Hindy’s been working well behind the scenes. He’s pitched in Super Regionals. We wanted to give him a chance right there, to give us a bridge to get to the rest of the game, and didn’t get it done.
“But it’s good to see Krenz work around the walk and get back in the strike zone. We talked about, I know, last week, trying to get him in good spots where we can stack some good outings in a row. That was a good response by him after the walk to get the ground ball, and he needs to be ready to go tomorrow.”
On how he thought Tennessee’s offense performed
“Well, I thought they were good. I mean, I thought Garrett Wright gets us out of the gate, Henry (Ford) stings the ball to center field, and even late in the game, eighth (inning), they really crushed some balls right at guys. But just kind of grinding through. I mean, the starter was good, but at the same time — I’m looking here (at the box score) — when you score however many runs we did tonight on your home field, on Friday night, you should be in a position to win. So whether it be offense, defense, collectively, coaching — we all need to be better, because tonight was not good enough.”
On Tennessee having to play a doubleheader Friday after a tough loss and quick turnaround
“Yeah, just got to hit — it’s baseball. You’re going to have weird games like this at times. But again, they’re all mutually exclusive. You got to turn the page to the next day. So they got a chance to play 18 innings on their home field tomorrow. So they need to be excited when they get out of bed and come out and compete, and just be a little bit better on both sides of the ball.”
