Tennessee baseball head coach Tony Vitello met with the media following the Vols’ 8-5 loss to Ole Miss on Saturday that evened the series.
Vitello discussed a wide range of topics, including junior RHP Drew Beam’s start, why AJ Russell exited the game, pitching coach Frank Anderson’s ejection, Ole Miss’ starting pitcher Liam Doyle’s dominant outing and more.
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See everything Vitello said after Tennessee’s third SEC loss of the season below.
On the message to the team after the game:
“We are kind of right back where we were last weekend. Came out and played really well on a Friday. Competed really well on a Saturday and came up short. Lot of frustration. You add in a lot of emotion, whether it’s celebrating the good things – really in both games – or getting down on the bad things. Really all that is a wash. You can cross it out and it doesn’t matter once tomorrow when the sun comes up, which I think it’s going to for the start of the day for once around here. And then it becomes who can find a way to win the last game. Usually on Sunday in our conference, or any conference really, when you get into these three-game battles – it’s all about finding a way.”
On the AJ Russell injury:
“Had some tightness in his forearm. We were kind of at the end of the deal with how we wanted to use him, but either a credit to them or maybe being off a little bit command wise and pitch count climbing pretty quick in the amount of time that he was out there, I mean, he did record three innings worth of outs for us. He did a good job. He kept us in the game but unfortunately, I think gave up one of several 0-2 hits that were painful. He felt that soreness in there. I think he was wanting to warmup or kind of see how it felt, but we aren’t going to mess with that at any point in that situation.”
On if anything needs to change mindset wise going into game three:
“Probably for me. You can’t hang your hat or hold onto frustrations too long. Everybody in this league is ultra-competitive, so no one likes losing. You saw it today with the celebration. Everyone likes winning. You have to kind of cross all that out once the game is over and be prepared for what’s ahead. What’s ahead right now is that it’s 9:30 [p.m. ET] on a Saturday. If you’re a college athlete in the SEC – or at least a baseball player – I’d like to think you’re not going out partying. You’ve got to relax and eat. When the sun comes up tomorrow, that’s when it kind of becomes preparation.
On if he knows the pitching plans for Sunday:
“No, we haven’t chatted in there. Really kind of left it up to how the game was going to go tonight. This one could have gone into extra innings very easily and we had a host of guys down there. So, we will kind of regroup and chat that up.”
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On Liam Doyle’s start for Ole Miss:
“He’s ultra-competitive. I mean, we kind of knew that this summer when he became available. That was kind of his No. 1 thing he had as a credit to his name. On top of that, he worked his way into being the Friday starter. You kind of got to like that deal where a guy isn’t something and then he works his way into it. At Coastal, I think he slowly became the Friday night guy. Maybe the same story is being written in Oxford. Coach B(ianco) is always really good at using his whole staff. Whatever role that had him in, he seems to be maximizing it and increasing what they ask him to do or what his role is defined as.”
On Frank Anderson’s Ejection:
“I’m not going out there and [risking] something happening. Based on our players’ reactions, and everyone is wearing orange, so you’re going to get our side of the thing, but I asked what was said and everybody said nothing. So that doesn’t make sense, but there were also words being exchanged earlier in the game from parties.”
On Drew Beam’s Outing:
“He went five-plus innings, and he gave us a chance to win. I know his standards, and I see the look on his face. I get it. Again, it kind of goes back to how competitive guys are. But he did about exactly what he does. To me, last week’s body of work was really impressive, how he bounced back with that lineup and being on the road. I don’t think it was one of his better outings, but his outings, usually there’s not a wide gap. A no-hitter and giving up 20 runs… there’s not usually a wide gap. I would say he was a little bit better this week than maybe he was last week. But I don’t think it was his best outing, which means somewhere around the corner, with his determination and work ethic, probably got a good one [coming].”
On why Dalton Bargo Pinch-Hit for Robin Villeneuve in the 7th Inning:
“The looks that Robin [Villeneuve] had. It was obviously Doyle at the time. But you’re kind of sitting on Bargo who, I think no question is in our top nine hitters, but sitting on it, sitting on it, that seemed to be a swing moment in the game. It was a wild moment in the game. But it got us to where we wanted to get, so that end of it worked out.”
On What Needs to Change With the Offense After Struggling for Multiple Innings:
“Ask Coach B(ianco) to not throw Liam Doyle. Ya know, the guy’s looking at me like I was playing in the game. We would’ve killed to have that kid here. So, I don’t know where that comes from, but there’s my compliment to him. I’m just being honest with you. I hear our conversations in the dugout – it’s not like our guys aren’t trying. But the guy has got great stuff. We know that. South Carolina played him last weekend. They know that. And I don’t know him well enough to say whether he was on or not. But he certainly seemed to be on his game from the get go, and our guys weren’t. But if you look at what our guys did, they competed the whole time. The fact that we were able to get their closer in the game is a mini-win, if that makes sense. So, they got plenty of other arms, so I’m not saying it’s going to be easy. But I think some people in the stands and other people didn’t realize he was throwing the ball as well as he did.”
