Everything Tony Vitello said on Saturday's 4-1 loss to Kentucky

Tennessee baseball coach Tony Vitello met with members of the media on Saturday following the 4-1 loss to Kentucky. Here’s the postgame press conference transcript and video from Tony Vitello.

Up Next: Tennessee and Kentucky will conclude the weekend series on Easter Sunday afternoon with a 1 o’clock ET first pitch. The rubber match will be streamed on the SEC Network+.

On if there’s an update regarding Tanner Wiggins after he was hit by a foul ball:

“Woody’s (trainer Jeff Wood) is gonna go over there, and I think the good – I mean, he took the foul ball square in the mouth area, but Woody said he was able to talk a little bit, and there’s some stuff with teeth but I don’t, you know, I don’t know if I’m supposed to speculate or not in that situation, but obviously not a good night for us, but he had the worst night out of everybody. It’s the same deal I dealt with (in 2023). I was blessed to get it in the jaw. He got it square in the mouth. So, I know all the guys have already been talking about it. We’ll look after him, and hopefully [he] comes out… you know, Wiggy’s Wiggy, so I think he’ll come back out and be the same guy that he was.”

On the challenge as a coach to put something like Wiggins’ injury in the rearview…

“It just makes it strange. Everybody’s praying for him in the dugout and in the back of your mind, you’re wondering what’s going on. I mean, there’s a bunch of blood in our dugout. It’s not part of the deal because it’s abnormal. So I don’t know, it just kind of makes for a weird vibe in the dugout.”

On Marcus Phillips’ outing…

“I mean he utilizes, he’s got big stuff. Everybody knows that. He utilized his stuff, and unfortunately – they did take some good swings. I know in one inning they drove the ball twice in the gaps, once to right-center, once to kind of left-center. But [aside] from that, I think we got ourselves into some trouble with some walks and a couple plays we could have made on defense. Those two things are going to happen. It’s just, when we don’t score on offense and you’re playing a lineup that’s versatile, and they’re dangerous like all SEC lineups, it just gets exposed or highlighted a little bit. 

“So, [he] had good stuff, had good composure in those moments, but you’d like to avoid those moments a little bit.”

On what adjustments Marcus Phillips needs to slow down the opposing team on the bases…

“I think just a little bit of presence. It’s a little easier for the left-handers facing the runners, but you see guys up on the mound that are able to step-off pick, just have presence up there and deal with certain situations. And I don’t know that we could’ve gone back in time, but there was one where first and third early break where we ought to be able to step off and kind of make a play on the deal. 

“But they’re also looking to be super aggressive and high-risk on the bases, and that’s part of the deal as well.”

On AJ Russell making his first SEC outing…

“That he was really good to start. I know he was frustrated with the last hitter. That was gonna be his last hitter no matter what, but probably good just to have it in the rear view mirror. I mean we all know he’s got composure and presence and the ability to pitch in the league, but it’s so talked (about)— I mean I assume he at least reads or hears some stuff. I would like that to not be the case, but I’m sure there’s a lot of build-up and you guys ask me questions about him. So it’d be good to kind of put that away and then the closer we can get to where, whether it’s relief start coming in in a jam or whatever. I mean today it makes it a little difficult when you’re trying to put everything in a box. Today worked out okay. It’ll be nice to kind of put all those things that come with early outings in the rear view mirror.”

On why Kentucky starter Nic McCay’s breaking ball gave Tennessee so many issues…

“I think because of— it played off the fastball. Fastball, to us, compared to what people said. Obviously look at a little bit of video but I think the fact that his fastball was really good tonight. It made the other stuff better and I’m just using my eyeballs on that. But there were some comments in the dugout too that would make that my best guess.”

On losing game two for the third straight weekend, if there’s any common theme…

“Not really. I mean you know you’re gonna get the team’s best punch back when they lose that Friday game and I don’t think there’s any one theme in particular other than the guys who have thrown on Saturday have thrown fairly well. There’s usually a guy in there that, you know, would’ve been nice if it would’ve gone better for DLoy (Dylan Loy) today. Maybe defense could’ve helped a little bit but we did make some good defensive plays. But a combination of you just wish a guy or two would’ve maybe thrown a little bit better but it gets highlighted by the fact that we didn’t swing the bat well tonight and really those other two occasions either, against the starter in particular.”