SOUTHEASTERN CONFERENCE BASEBALL TOURNAMENT

May 22, 2024

Tim Corbin

Jonathan Vastine

Miller Green

Hoover Metropolitan Stadium

Vanderbilt Commodores

Postgame Press Conference

Vanderbilt 13, Tennessee 4

TIM CORBIN: It was certainly a good win for us. I liked how we did it. It was pretty well balanced offensively. Had some big hits obviously throughout the order. Alan had a good day, Johnny had a good day, Calvin getting on base, Braden Holcomb had a good day. It was pretty well balanced.

But I think the thing that mattered the most was the pitching. It was Devan early and doing a pretty good job for the most part. I know he gave up a three-run home run with two outs, but at the same time containing that group is very difficult to do.

And then we left it in the hands of two freshmen. Luke gave us a good gap inning and was able to put a zero on the scoreboard. Then Miller Green, four innings of shutout baseball was certainly the difference. Just very well done by him.

But I think how we started the game against Snead was -- the big inning against him was certainly important for us. That's a very good pitcher with a very good arm. Getting him out of the game was important for Vanderbilt.

Q. Jonathan, against Tennessee, how important is it in particular to beat them, and is there any extra juice in these type of games?

JONATHAN VASTINE: It's always big to beat those guys across the street. There's a lot of history behind it. We treat every game the same. We're just trying to stay together as a team. This is a big tournament, and we're going to take it one game at a time. We don't need any extra motivation because we create it ourselves because we want to win as a team.

MILLER GREEN: Kind of going off what Johnny said, just we kind of take every game one by one, and we're just looking towards the next game, and playing them is always fun, but we're going to keep every game the same no matter who we're playing.

Q. Miller, after what happened the first time that you pitched against Tennessee a couple weeks ago, how good was it to get that shutdown outing that you had today?

MILLER GREEN: It was good. Me and Browny worked on some stuff after and just kind of worked on a little bit of pitching mechanic-type stuff. It was good to get back out there and get another shot at them for sure.

Q. Miller, I'm sure if there was a blueprint to shutting those guys down, a lot of people would be doing it, and they're not. But what was the key? They take a lot of walks, hit a lot of balls out of the park. How were you able to do what you did?

MILLER GREEN: It was more just go out there and be myself, keep the ball low, and when I'm keeping the ball up, sometimes it doesn't end too good. But obviously main focus was keep the ball low and just trust each pitch, no matter what pitch it is. Make sure I have full confidence in that pitch, and if I don't, then move to a different pitch.

Q. Jonathan, the last three games you guys have really seemed to excel offensively. Do you feel like you're really trending at the right time?

JONATHAN VASTINE: Yeah, I think getting hot at the right time is always good. I think that we only have our best baseball ahead of us. As an offense, we're playing loose. We're enjoying every moment of it, and we're not putting too much pressure on each other.

Q. Miller, you've pitched a lot this year as a freshman. What have you made of your year as a whole, and what have you learned?

MILLER GREEN: It's been a lot of fun, and every day coming in talking to older guys and just learning as much as I can from them and even other freshmen, no matter who it is really. Everybody has their little bit I feel like I can learn from. And just watching everybody and learning and really just trying to get better every single day.

Q. I know it's not always simple, but it feels like the last four games, the offense has clicked into a different gear. Is there something there, a common denominator, or just a that's baseball thing?

TIM CORBIN: I think part of that. I think you go back four games, I think you're right. The middle game against Kentucky we swung the bat well, and I think the kids are feeling it.

I think Braden Holcomb starting to get more comfortable in the batter's box, certainly Barczi had some good swings against Tennessee at our place, and he didn't really have much to show for it.

I felt at some point that he would start swinging it well, and Calvin just playing well at the bottom of the lineup. It's another lead-off hitter that's getting on base.

Just good contributions from them all. It's just team at-bats, just being able to play in conjunction with one another.

Q. Tim, with the higher seeds 1-6 this week, I would like to get your thoughts on anything you can read into that.

TIM CORBIN: Well, what I read into most is the 13-17 teams are playing pretty good. I wouldn't say out of desperation, but I think at the same time, they want to dignify what kind of team that they are and dignify the body of work.

It's a tough league, man. It's a really tough league. I think we've come in here seeded high before and got bounced out, but we've also been in this thing at least -- I say we. I'm speaking selfishly. In the time that I've been at Vanderbilt, gotten in here, we've been limping here and played very well and got to the championship game.

I don't know what it says. I wouldn't -- each team does their thing. But I just look at it more like the 13 and 17 teams have probably something to prove.

Q. Tim, what were you hoping to get out of Devan today, and did you get what you needed from him?

TIM CORBIN: I think so. You know, just as much time as he could give us. Getting us to the fifth inning was fine.

He didn't have a lot of bullets against Kentucky in the last game, but yet those are high-temperature pitches because he's trying to help us win the game.

I thought he did a nice job. The last inning he might have gotten a little bit tired, but with two outs they got the big hit there.

But he gave us a good start, and we'll run with that, and those freshmen did a nice job. They really did. You don't shut Tennessee down; that's a very good team.

Q. How good was it to see Miller rebound after he gave up the home run against Tennessee?

TIM CORBIN: Well, that happened before. All I care about with any of these guys, it's not about redemption. It's just about getting better. You learn by making mistakes. We talked about that home run against Tears, and we talked about the home run against Mississippi State. No one feels worse than the person that gives that up.

But at the same time, he's learning. You pointed that out; he's pitched a lot for us. We've put him in some very difficult situations, and that kid has done a nice job for us. He's learning in motion.

Q. How is your pitching staff looking going forward?

TIM CORBIN: They look good to me. I mean, I don't know. We'll find out on the bus and sleep on it. We've got enough arms. We traveled 14, so someone has got to do it. We've been in this before. We pitched a student manager in '07 against Ole Miss. You remember that. Jason Cunningham. We'll see what we can do.

Q. Vastine mentioned about having your best baseball ahead of you. Have you felt that maybe within the guys, the belief that that could be the case?

TIM CORBIN: Well, it's all about the guys. It's all about how they feel about themselves. Confidence for any human being is what you think of yourself and what your perception is. I think winning two games, certainly beating Kentucky at the end was a big deal for us. We needed that 13th win.

But I think now it's almost like, okay, let's go play and have fun. That's really how we came into the tournament. It wasn't a must thing for us. I don't want our teams thinking like that. You do, you're going to collapse quick. We don't need to be playing with pressure. We need to be playing with fun and excitement and aggressiveness, and we're playing aggressive.

Q. You mentioned how well the 13-17 teams are playing. What are your feelings about the SEC potentially getting 11 bids this year and all those 13-17 teams potentially getting in the tournament?

TIM CORBIN: Well, I think they're deserving. I mean, Florida, no one wants Florida in a regional. Go ahead and try to pitch to Caglianone and Shelton and those guys, and their pitching, too. Sully has got a good team.

Listen, you're banging yourself on the chest when you say we've got the best conference and that type of thing, but all 11 teams in my opinion are regional teams. Now, whether they get there or not, I don't know, but I've seen this league for a long time. Those are really good teams. I do believe they deserve the opportunity.

Q. This rivalry has had some spice to it in recent years, and against the backdrop that you've got a lot to play for this week, how do you manage the temperature in a situation like that where things could potentially get heated given what's gone on the last few years?

TIM CORBIN: I don't feel that way. I don't think the kids feel that way. It's like when you play Tennessee or Florida or -- it's just exciting baseball. You know you've got to play well.

I know our kids respect Tennessee and their program. There's no doubt about that. We talk about that. But what you can't do is start admiring people you play. We've got a good program, too. Real good program. We've been very consistent.

So it's about just trying to play your best baseball and trying to play better baseball than the opponent.

Q. You talked at length yesterday about what the SEC tournament has meant for your program and about that first year where you guys were able to qualify. Next year the league is going automatic qualification for all 16 teams. Do you like that change, or do you enjoy the fact that there's kind of that race to try and qualify to get those 11th and 12th spots?

TIM CORBIN: Yeah, I personally don't like it. I would rather -- I think the regular season means a lot, and I think playing into the tournament is important.

Now, if I was one of the two teams that was left out, would I be upset? Of course, but we don't deserve to play in it. We just didn't play good enough baseball.

Yeah, it's what we did, and it's what the AD voted on. But I like the format of what we have right here. I think it makes for a very good tournament. I think it makes also for fans that want to come, at least they know they're going to stay for a few days. If it's kind of single elimination, then I don't know personally if I'm packing up my family right away. I don't know. We'll see. I hope it works out because it's really good baseball, and you add Oklahoma and Texas to the fray, my God, it's a good conference. Tough. Tough baseball.