Everything Tony Vitello said on a Sunday rubber match loss with Kentucky

Tennessee baseball coach Tony Vitello met with members of the media on Sunday afternoon to discuss the series-finale rubber match 8-2 loss against Kentucky. The following is a written transcript of the Tony Vitello postgame press conference.

Up Next: Tennessee is back at it on Tuesday from Lindsey Nelson Stadium for midweek action against Lipscomb. The contest begins at 6 PM ET and will be streamed on the SEC Network+.

What was different about Tennessee pitcher Tegan Kuhns from the first five batters to the next four

“I think just focused on what he was doing. Looked a little distracted to me. But he is one pitch away from, you don’t know this, but maybe rolling and doing his deal where he gets his four, maybe even five innings, if you’re going to get greedy. Or even at the very least onto the next inning. But looked to me like he just kind of guided in that last pitch. So we decided to go to an early move here in a cutthroat game.”

The balance of giving up stolen bases and a pitcher dealing with that, but not letting it get in his head 

“You got to have some presence. And, I mean, you got to play defense, too. And play catch. So, you know, that’s a side story. And you can either choose to win the war or win the battle. And our guys didn’t do a good job of winning the war. So that’s a part of it. I mean, you certainly have to, if guys are on base, you certainly have to focus on throwing the baseball where you’re trying to throw it. But that ain’t we got beat the last two days.” 

How he would assess Tennessee’s offense over the last two games of the Kentucky series 

“Over-swinging and not making adjustments in a very bad theme of swinging at pitches that were not in the zone. And taking some pitches that appear to be in the heart of the zone, from where I was standing. And went up against two very good starters. Two of the better starters in the league, too.”

How he believes Tennessee lost the seres

“A whole laundry list of items. The attitude and the vibe wasn’t very good. It was a frustration. And I think sometimes I think our guys have success and then think it’s going to be handed to them. And they’ve made adjustments in the past and we didn’t necessarily do that today. But again, didn’t play catch, yesterday was the walks and errors was well over what theirs were. I know they had a clean, for what it’s worth, I mean, plays come a different variety, but we had a couple errors, they didn’t have any. And then two, I mean the vibe of the game or the mojo of the game kind of involves offense and defense. And for whatever reason, us not playing catch I think bled into a little bit of frustration at the plate. And if you’re frustrated at the plate, it affects the scoreboard and what’s going on there. A laundry list that would fall under the category of team.”

If there was a particular reason for the errors

“I mean, part of it is – one of them did go our way. Cannon (Peebles) stuck his nose in there and literally got his, well, it wasn’t his nose, but you know, the slide was fine, but the runner’s helmet ended up clipping his lip, but he took care of the baseball, and he took care of home plate. So, a lot of it’s just that conviction. A lot of it was guys kind of guiding the ball. Like I said, it could be the pitcher or a fielder guiding the ball to where they’re trying to throw it. Sometimes, you get out there, whether it’s turf or natural surface, guys think they know what’s gonna happen with a hop and kind of get a little lazy, if you wanna call it that, and don’t grind out a play. You have to be strong around the base.

“So, the one play we made, I think, is an example of how you have to do it. You have to have a little conviction to you, and you have to grind out, on defense, 27 outs.”

What adjustment he’s looking for the team to make ahead of the midweek game vs. Lipscomb

“For our guys to remember what happened this weekend, and maybe last year, what happened against Lipscomb, or really just to look at Tuesday as an opportunity to come out and play good baseball. (They) should be as motivated as anybody in the country to do that.”

What has been different about Dylan Loy in the last handful of outings

“Same word, conviction. I haven’t looked at today’s, but I know he started the deal right out of the gate with a guy 0-2, and a pitch didn’t have any finish to it towards the direction he was throwing it. [It] just kind of bled right over the middle of the plate. So I think conviction and certainty in what he’s doing, which has always been his rep, that’s kind of been his M.O. if you will. It’s never been about stuff with him. It’s quality stuff, but it’s really about him being a guy that, even as a freshman in an SEC championship game or a lot of big games in high school he pitched in, just kind of having some presence and some certainty to him. So, I think that’s a big thing with the hitters or defense or holding runners or doing whatever is having the right presence. It’s never been about stuff with him, it’s quality stuff, but it’s really about him being a guy that even as a freshman in an SEC Championship game or a lot of big games in high school he pitched in, just kind of having some presence and some certainty to him. So I think that’s a big thing with the hitters or defense or holding runners or doing whatever is having that the right presence.”

How he would assess Brandon Arvidson’s performance

“He was good. He was letting that thing loose and whether it be Teagan or whoever, we wanted to get to a point where Snead would be in the middle of the game and feel confident in him. And, again, I think because the score is 3-0 and the theme of the at-bats the last day and a half are what they are, you consider every run valuable. So I think we go to Snead there, you could argue whether it’s the right thing or not. Because it would’ve been interesting to see if Arv could go a little bit more. But for now he’s a sprinter out of the bullpen for us and he keeps building up steam.”

His feel on Tennessee’s vibe entering the game

“I think, I didn’t pick up on any one thing that was lacking or too much of or anything like that. I think early in the game the tension was there maybe a little too much. But again, when it kind of goes down the way it does in the second inning and you don’t get immediate results it’s, I think, nature of the beast. I was the worst at it of you let the results or the scoreboard sway your mood a little bit. So maybe there’s a little bit more of an underlying theme there of guys allowing results or outcomes to kind of shift their mood one way or the other. And you guys said it or somebody wrote it or said it. I certainly said it, last Sunday in Oxford was great because they didn’t blink regardless of what was going on. So if you can do it once, you should be able to do it again.”

The crowd reception Tennessee players received throughout the weekend after big defensive plays

“I don’t know what the (Knoxville) Smokies had going on today, but I know the last two nights, Knoxville’s filled two stadiums. From my understanding, the crowds have been into it and, aware and cheering over there, and it’s the same thing over here. So I think the crowd here helps us win games as long as our guys are giving ’em incentive to do so. And no one wants to hear whining or anything like that, ’cause at our park you can hear everything. It’s the toughest park to umpire in the country. So again, you get heated and you argue, those guys all end up with about the same score as what I’ve told you before. It’s good when the fans have our back as it relates to the umpires, but the point being is you’re right on top of the action, you can hear everything. So the more they’re involved, the more they’re positive, the more they help us win. And as we always say around here, it takes two to tango. I think part of the reason the fans have come out here and we’ve had to build a bigger stadium, is they’ve fallen in love with the personalities like Kirby (Connell) and Hunter Ensley. Whoever else you wanna come up with that have been a part of the program. But I think they’ve also appreciated the way that our guys have played at times, whether it be with passion, or win or lose, something that they can say, I’ll attach my name to that. Kudos to Kentucky in particular, those two starting pitchers, but I don’t think anyone wants to attach their name to the last two days.”

Tennessee not blinking at Ole Miss, but struggling to do so against Kentucky

“There’s plenty of things you can analyze, we need to get better, but for that particular question, it’s like the doctor can prescribe you what to do to rehab something, but then you have to do it. So it’s up to us to point out some things that need to improve. And then at this point in the season, a lot of what’s gonna go on with Florida State’s program, Kentucky’s, ours, Oregon’s, whoever; is gonna be the decision that the kids make.”