Tennessee baseball bounced back from a disappointing Friday night loss to run-rule Auburn 12-2 in seven innings on Saturday afternoon.
Drew Beam allowed just one earned run while pitching all seven innings and the Vols’ bats exploded for six home runs in the blowout victory.
Following the win, Tennessee coach Tony Vitello discussed Beam’s bounce back start, Blake Burke making program history and more. Here’s everything Vitello said.
More From RTI: Blake Burke Becomes Tennessee Baseball’s New Home Run King
On Drew Beam’s strong outing
“The effort was tremendous because we needed to bounce back as a team but he needed to bounce back from last week or I know he had a strong desire to. Then it was a tale of almost two games. Six innings of really being incredible out there and then the last inning was kind of get it done ugly. He’s done both in his career here and he kind of did it in both fashions if you count up all seven innings.”
On the team’s response from Friday’s loss
“Yesterday was a strange game and of course it was frustrating and at the end of the day we were not the better team so I think the team showed up determined to get the job done, to be the better group today but it was also good that they didn’t tense up. We’re looking to win on the road any games we can and it didn’t work out yesterday so to come with a little bit of looseness to the park was good.”
On Blake Burke becoming Tennessee’s career home run record
“I didn’t know much about it. The ESPN crew grabbed him afterwards and I wasn’t quite sure what for but it makes sense and we’ll of course celebrate that when his career is done. But right now he’s in the process of a stat that I bet he is more excited about, and I know I am, is that he could go down as one of the winningest players in Vol history. At least in his career. I don’t know how you quantify that by percentage but I know he wants to win about as bad as any player I want to be around and then the three teams he’s been on have seen a lot of success on the field, obviously this one is in the midst of the season so we’ll see where the season goes from here.”
On what Blake Burke has meant to the team and program
“There’s a lot that went in our way towards the end of the year last year when we were playing our best ball towards the end and made a postseason run as well. A big one of them was him truly becoming a leader and formulating a plan to shoulder the load of being a guy in the middle of the order and defensively needing to be a guy for us and everything that comes with it in the clubhouse. He kind of picked up where he left off, but he’s added to it. He’s been a big presence for us and been a big leader for us. It’s great he hits homers and gets hits, but I think his defense has greatly improved. He’s turned himself into a guy we won’t pinch run for this year. That’s not a contract but I’m kind of thinking that on how he’s done in that category. Above all, he is a team captain type guy and a great leader.”
On how many lineups he’s been around with this kind of firepower
“Well, we are obviously missing Billy [Amick] which is frustrating. A couple of guys that I see getting their stuff in the dugout are some talented hitters who did not get to play today, so it’s nice to have some depth. I think the biggest thing is the lineup where one day CMO [Christian Moore] might be the better guy in the lineup and the next day it might be [Blake] Burke. I could go all the way down and list off names. It’s nice when you see three or four guys who are carrying the load and it’s a game of repetitions. Not every day will you have all nine guys hitting on all cylinders. But if everyone can contribute a little bit, I think there’s enough talent in the lineup. There will be a couple of guys who will have a really strong day for ya and maybe carry the load that way.”
