Everything Tony Vitello said following Tennessee's 7-2 loss at Arkansas in game three

Tennessee dropped game three on the road in Arkansas by a final score of 7-2. With the loss, the Vols have now fell victim of the series-sweep twice this season and have lost three-straight Southeastern Conference series.

What did Tony Vitello have to say postgame about the loss and what’s to come this week and beyond? A transcript is provided below.

Tony Vitello Written Transcript

On decision to stick with Drew Beam for as long as he did in the second inning….

“He didn’t throw it in the strike zone. I don’t have many good answers. He’s a pretty good pitcher and a pretty good competitor too. When they score runs, you left him into long. I don’t even know what the opposite of that is to be honest with you.”

On Chase urns in relief…

“He did great and that’s what you want for a guy where it’s been kind of awkward for him and certainly the results don’t speak to me for how well he has thrown the ball or the stuff that he has. Today, and the whole weekend really, he came in relaxed and was waiting for his chance to go and get the ball. He went out there and di what we asked.”

On Kavares Tears the past two games….

“To me, you can see a difference in the at-bat when he has two strikes and when he doesn’t. He has a plan there. You can see his work paying off and he probably swings more than anybody. Sometimes guys get in the cage and its busy work, but when he swings, it’s with a purpose. He is constantly trying to improve and there’s been a vast amount of improvement over the course of this past two or three months and really ever since he’s gotten on campus. He’s always had the ability to drive the ball. He is strong as all get out. He has really matured as a hitter over the course of the spring.”  

On if it will be tough to keep Kavares Tears out of the lineup…

“Yeah, I think so for sure. At different times of the year, he has been dealing with a different alignment. He’s never had one injury. But when he’s healthy, we like him for the fact that he’s prepared from the work he’s put in on top of what we do. He will compete and he’s got some skill too. As long as he’s healthy, he’s a guy who needs to be in the lineup.”  

On how all three of these games could have gone differently if not for one or two things….

“Yeah, we had scored first the past couple of days. It’s not like you don’t want to score first, but we didn’t today. With them putting up as many runs as they did early – I didn’t notice a huge difference, but it kind of deflates your guys a little bit. The expectations are so high and then you don’t meet them. It really made it tough in general, the first inning. Slavens – that was the biggest at-bat in the game, and maybe if we would have gotten someone different out there, he gets him out. Slavens has done a lot of damage during his time at Arkansas.”

On finding a rhythm at one point offensively…

“Yeah, we were close on all those guys. Carter did throw the ball really well, but on all those guys we were close. That doesn’t do you any good unless it’s horseshoes and hand grenades. We need to find a way to put together a big inning. I think we went the whole weekend without having a big inning. The way you do that is to get guys on base – which we did – but then you’re able to pile on and hit with runners in scoring position and all that good stuff.”

On the 5-10 start in SEC play….

“To me, it’s about us. The league – I don’t know where everybody stands – we are only worried about our dugout. But h league will dictate if you are .500, that’s a phenomenal year. Even a game under .500 is something you can hang your hat on in this league. Anything above it is phenomenal. We have work to do if we are going to get anywhere close to that mark. I think it’s more about us not playing as well as we can, to be that far behind .500. We have faced some really good teams.”

 On the worry of keeping the confidence up…

“I worry about this team playing tough enough, tough enough to where we all feel good about it when we get into postgame. When we get on the bus, go home and lay your head on the pillow, that’s what I want. That’s been said indirectly, directly – all that good stuff. This league will chew you up and spit you out if you’re not tough enough, but also the game of baseball will do the same thing too. At the end of the day, you want to be able to hang your hat on something. There’s only going to be one team that wins the last game of the year, this year. So, if it’s hanging your hat on wins and losses only – you’re chasing a ghost.”

On frustrations of trying different things and it not working out…

“You don’t want to make it to where it’s a guessing game going on more than not, but the same time you don’t want to stand still in the same place. It’s a group that likes to be active. I like to think that our coaching staff is young – a lot of them by age but most by heart – and we’re out here wanting to play a kids’ game. We’re out here with the rubrics cube and get all the color panels at least close on one side. You’re looking for guys like KT [Tears] who have worked their way into a good position when they are in the box – whether it goes well or it doesn’t – I think he struck out once today. You know he is in there competing and competing with a plan.”