Tennessee Baseball acting head coach Josh Elander met with the media following the Vols’ 4-1 win over Dayton to win the series to discuss Tennessee’s series-clinching win.
Elander reacted to elite performances from starter Chase Burns and reliever Seth Halvorsen as well as how Tennessee did at the plate.
“Just special stuff,” Elander said when thinking back to Burns’ performance. “He’s obviously one of the most talented pitchers in the country. He’s got the accolades to back that up, but he’s a tremendous worker, always getting after it, trying to get better. And if you guys saw a picture of him when he came in as a freshman compared to what he looks like now, I mean, Q(uentin Eberhardt) has done a great job with him. It was really cool to see the fastball command pick up, and he also got the slider go to another level too.”
“It’s just cool to see him back,” Elander said regarding Halvorsen’s night. “I mean there’s been a lot of work that’s gone into that for him kind of behind the scenes, and kind of a freak deal (injury) last year that happened right over there in that cage. So again, I think anytime we get him out here, we’re pretty excited because what people forget is that guy threw on Friday night in the SEC, which you cannot put a value on that experience. But it’s kind of a different profile. I remember when we faced him in Missouri it was kind of like, you know, a little rise run on the heater, but the slider was always good. But now coach A’s got him really sinking that thing where it’s hard for guys to get the ball in the air, so he’s gonna be a real weapon for us.”
Elander’s entire postgame press conference video is below.
