It was a poor, poor weekend Tennessee baseball in Fayetteville, Arkansas, as the Razorbacks swept the Vols 5-2, 6-3 and 7-2. Tennessee committed too many defensive mistakes in the first two games, Drew Beam allowed six runs in the first two innings in game three, and the offense was subpar at best all weekend long.
The Vols are now 5-10 in the SEC after getting swept, and the schedule remains difficult as No. 4 Vanderbilt is coming to Knoxville next weekend.
More From RTI: WATCH: Tony Vitello Reacts to Getting Swept at Arkansas
Following the Vols Sunday loss to Arkansas, head coach Tony Vitello met with the media to share his thoughts on the loss and look back on the series.
Everything Vitello said is below.
On Dylan Carter’s performance out of the bullpen for Arkansas:
“Close on all those guys. Carter threw the ball well, but on all those guys, we’re close but that doesn’t do you any good except for horseshoes and hand grenades. We need to find a way to put together a big inning. We went the whole weekend — it’s easy to say if you do the math — went the whole weekend without having a big inning. The way you do that is getting guys on base, which we did, but then you pile on and you’re able to hit with runners on and all that good stuff.”
On if the 5-10 start to conference play is more about their struggles or the competition:
“To me it’s about us. The league, I don’t know where everybody stands. We’re worried about our dugout. The league will dictate if you’re .500, it was a phenomenal year. Even a game under .500 is something you can hang your hat on in this league. Anything above it is phenomenal. We’ve got work to do if we’re going to get anywhere close to that mark. I think it’s more about us not playing as well as we can to be that far under .500 or however you want to describe it. But yeah, we’ve faced some really good teams.”
On if he worries about this team being able to keep their confidence:
“I worry about this team playing tough enough. Tough enough. We all feel good about it when we get in the shower here, which that sounds like a goofy comment, but we get on the bus, you go home, lay your head on the pillow. That’s what I want. That’s been said directly, indirectly, all that good stuff. This league will chew you up and spit you out if you’re not tough, but also the game of baseball will do the same thing, too. At the end of the day you want to be able to hang your hat on something. It’s only going to be one team that wins the last game of the year this year. If it’s hanging your hat on wins and losses only, you’re chasing a ghost.”
On how frustrating it is that it seems like nothing that he’s trying is working:
“You don’t want to make it to where it’s a guessing game everyday what’s going on, but at the same time, you don’t want to stand still in one place. It’s a group that likes to be active. I’d like to think our coaching staff is young. A lot of it by age, but also some of it by heart. We’re also out here wanting to play a kids game and we’re trying to get the rubix cube, get all the color panels at least close on one side. You’re looking for guys like KT (Kavares Tears) who have undoubtedly worked their way to be in a good position. And then when they’re in the box, whether it goes well or it doesn’t — I think he struck out once today, you know he’s in there competing and competing with a plan.”
