Everything Tony Vitello said on the series-finale loss to Vanderbilt on Sunday

Tennessee skipper Tony Vitello met with members of the media on Sunday night following the series-finale rubber match 7-5 loss with Vanderbilt. Here’s video and a written transcript from the postgame Vitello press conference.

Up Next: The final home game of the regular season is on Tuesday for the No. 15 Volunteers as Tennessee plays host to Belmont at 5 o’clock ET ahead of the final weekend in the regular season at Arkansas.

On why the lineup looked much different…

“Just trying to win, man. Trying whatever we gotta do to win. Yeah, pitching matchups [were a part of it]. I mean, you’re gonna get change-ups. So, you gotta have guys that are willing to make adjustments or guys that can do that. So, we figured going into the day, the guy that had, I think, their best numbers (Connor Fennell), we were gonna need to do something against him. Then it got kinda quirky. You could argue we did a good job against him, but the score was tied, and it was very early in the game. So, where do you make changes after that? 

“Again, just trying to win. We got 12, count Stone (Lawless) in there too. He’s ended up catching on Tuesdays, but everybody that made an appearance of some sort this weekend is a guy that’s an SEC-caliber player. A lot of them are young, but [are] SEC-caliber players. [Just] trying to mix it up and put the right ones out there.”

On where he’s at mentally with the team…

“Good group of guys. Like being around them every day. Obviously, they got a little fight to them. Certainly have capabilities. I think right now where I’m at is I’m responsible for guys playing and feeling confident. So, one of the reasons we either make some changes or stress out a little bit about guys’ performances is not necessarily what they’re capable of or if they made a huge mistake – I mean, they’re gonna make mistakes – it’s playing with confidence. 

“That ultimately is a choice. And you got some guys whose wheels have been spinning either on occasion or as we stand here right now kinda have that going on right now. So, whatever we can do to try and help them. Trust me, everybody’s trying about everything you can think of.”

On Tegan Kuhns’ outing and why he went to Brayden Krenzel in the 4th inning…

“He (Tegan Kuhns) was really good. Same as Auburn. Good presence. [He] would like to go back and have a couple pick-off throws be a little different. That’s usually kinda one of his strengths. How he balances out the run game a little bit is his athleticism. He’s definitely good at fielding his position. But he did a nice job. We were ready for the next time somebody got on base to go to (Brayden) Krenzel. He’s probably one of our best guys at handling that stuff. Plus, if there’s a guy on base, he’s a ground ball pitcher, [can] get a double play. 

“So, (Colin) Barczi had hit a home run off of Tegan. We don’t have a lot of room for error. I told the team out there, if that’s a question, what we talked about is part of it is probably me trying too – you don’t want your players to try too hard – but when the margin for error is kinda thin and things are frustrating and and you wanna help these guys because they certainly are, like I said, trying like hell, just trying to make the right moves and be one step ahead of everything. 

“So no one was on base, but we went to Krenzel. And to be honest with you, other than one guy’s outing was too short today, we kinda went in the order we thought and kinda got to the spot [we wanted]. One out was big, and we wanted to get to the eighth inning with a chance to win with Nate (Snead) We did that. They just made more plays than we did.”

On if there’s more of a sense of frustration or desire to get to Tuesday…

“No. I think they’ll be ready for Tuesday. We got one senior and it’s senior day, so that kinda goes without saying. And I think they’ll be anxious to get back out on the field. I think you saw that at the end of the game. 

But, yeah, it’s quite obvious. I mean, the ideal thing is to have a Sunday starter that can carry you, you know, into the fifth, sixth inning like they’ve got going on over there, but that didn’t happen for their guy today. It was a battle of both bullpens. And, again, it was a back-and-forth battle, but they were better than we were today. The only thing I’d say is— you’re dead on with the 1-5, but the whole weekend kinda has involvement with the whole weekend. So we need to be better not just with the conclusion of the weekend, but things leading up to it too.”

On allowing extra-base hits in favorable counts, line in being competitive and not make those mistakes…

“Yeah. Well, I mean, it’s execution. I mean, Grimmer was phenomenal, so there’s no sense in saying really anything negative there. But kind of like the idea of being up 4-3 and having Levi Levi Clark up to bat if we execute a bunt.

First time the guy’s been asked to do it. We’ve got very little left on left information with him. They got a guy that’s good at getting lefties out. So just the execution was poor. So I’m just saying that as a parallel to no one is saying throw the ball right down the middle to a guy that’s already got a homer on the day. 

But, yeah, there’s, in particular that inning (sixth). I mean, Nate,  I’d have to go back and see it. You know, Mancini takes a time out, resets himself, and to me he took a pitch and then got a 1-2 pitch that was, you (media) have a better view than me, or I don’t know where the hell you sit. But it looked like it was a decent pitch. The guy put a good swing on it.”

On things needing to be better leading into the weekend…

“Not leading into the weekend, but over the course of. So, we’re all friends here. Saturday needs to be better. Day two needs to be better. I don’t give a shit who’s pitching or who’s playing. 

Liam Doyle comes out, and the guy’s a freaking warrior. And our guys take on that personality. Unfortunately, it’s the SEC, so the other team usually has a warrior like JD Thompson or a guy that’s going be in the big leagues. Should be in the big leagues right now down there in Baton Rouge. So it’s usually kind of a back and forth. But then the next day isn’t what it needs to be. And I could give you a few conspiracy theories. I think you guys brought that up. I was on the scoreboard, but I don’t really know. I just know what I’m watching, and that can affect and carry and put a little more pressure into day three. So, ideally, you want to be the same type of team every day, but each day’s got a new personality. 

You see different pictures and things like that, and I’d be the first guy to either get with a player or our team if guys weren’t hooking it up. But if anything, maybe like their coach some of the players are just trying too hard as opposed to not trying enough or maybe thinking a little too much as opposed to not thinking at all.”

On the brouhaha after the game ended, if it was just jawing…

“Yeah. It’s overrated. I mean, their guys are looking into our dugout as they high five. But it was a feisty day all long, so are you going to blame them? And then Hunter Endsley— that’s Hunter Ensley’s field out there. So I think he was— I don’t know who’s the first one to say. I don’t want to say that. But if you’re on their side, you yell poor loser. And if you’re on our side, you yell don’t do that on our field or you’re a poor winner. So it’s blown out of proportion. If anything, people that were watching for the first part, and then I don’t know if the second part was televised, saw a super regional type game or a playoff type atmosphere on the field and again, they made more plays than we did.”

n not being able to capitalize on the hits offensively and runners on base…

“Probably the pressing the trying hard thing. I mean, that’s a common theme in in baseball in general, but overthinking or over cooking situations and trying a little too hard because you got guys that are capable. Maybe we can do a better job of putting the right guy up there or the right position. But the try and the vibe and the energy is not the issue.”

On the vibe and intensity after Andrew Fischer’s home run in the first inning…

“Well, same thing. I mean, just like the end of the game thing, he yelled at the pitcher. I mean, for good reason. What would you do? And the pitcher’s allowed to do what he does, so why wouldn’t he do that? That’s kind of his – he’s pretty good. Good athlete. By the way, any beakers that are watching or give a damn, that that’s what that looks like – what you all are talking about. But that that guy is good. He’s a good athlete. He’s got really good stuff, but part of the deal is of the windup doing what he’s doing. I would do it too if I was allowed to do it, but I think it got that far to where both sides were doing all that deal. So, I don’t fault Fish [Andrew Fischer] for doing that. I don’t fault them [Vanderbilt] for celebrating the victory.”

On the effort being where it needs to be and if that keeps him optimistic to click for an entire weekend…

“Once I’m done being optimistic, I’m not coming to work anymore. I’d be lying if I didn’t say I’m same as everybody else. And then when the outside noise is loud enough, it starts to creep in. That can affect you or affect the team as well. But it’s kind of up to us. As a wise man told us at the beginning of the weekend, the best teams or the best things to do in tough times in particular is to get closer together. I don’t see why it wouldn’t. I’m sure someone will spin it or whatever, but I’m optimistic. These guys, when they’re at their best and when they’re confident, are really, really good. Maybe given a little too much credit at times, but still they’re really, really good.”

On what was said during the weather delay…

“Not much. I mean, Dylan [Loy], you know, gives up a home run, but that guy – who knows how many times that guy has played against us? I didn’t even know [until] Chris Burke – I didn’t even know that guy was back for them as a senior. He just put a good swing on one of D-Loy’s pitches, but it kind of makes you feel like you wish Dylan would have – he had to get ready, came in the game, and then he’s got to get ready again. Then there was another delay. So, it wasn’t ideal, but the first fastball he threw was pretty good. So, again, their guy made a play, and Dylan was good for us this weekend. So, the whole thing was about having Dylan ready and knowing what we’re going to do after that. But the rest is you can’t control those guys – bunch of maniacs. Vanderbilt is confined to just kind of their dugout and our guys roam around back there and relax. Wait their task.”