Tony Vitello Breaks Down Heated Situation With Auburn, Discusses Vols 8-6 Loss

Tennessee baseball head coach Tony Vitello met with the media following the Vols' 8-6 loss to Auburn on Saturday to discuss what led to Tennessee dropping game two of the series in addition to what escalated between the teams after Bobby Pierce hit a three-run home run to give Auburn the lead in the ninth inning.

After Pierce hit the ball deep into the left field porches, he flipped his bat towards the Tennessee dugout where it landed a few feet away from Vitello's perch.

"The bat ended up in our dugout," Vitello said referring to Pierce's bat throw. "If it was a true dugout, it would've gone in the dugout, but it was resting on the net. So, someone has to get it. So, I grabbed it and threw it over there."

Afterwards, Vitello picked up the bat and threw it back towards Auburn's dugout, then something appeared to be said to escalate the situation further. Tennessee's dugout emptied and stormed the field but were quickly held back by umpires as the Vols and the Tigers continued to jaw back-and-forth.

"A lot of extra stuff happened after that from our side and their side that maybe didn't need to happen, but everyone's trying to win. It's the SEC," Vitello said regarding the situation.

The two squads have approximately 14.5 hours from the end of game two til the start of the rubber match, and Vols relief pitcher Camden Sewell–who did well in another extended relief situation–says the team is looking forward to tomorrow already.

"All of our mindsets is one o'clock tomorrow, and I think everyone is on the same page with that," Sewell said.

When asked about what the key is to bouncing back to ensure they get the series win, Sewell continued the narrative that they're simply going to come out ready.

"I think we're all ready to come out here tomorrow, that's all that I can say...we're pretty juiced to come out and play."

Vitello knows that the focus is now on tomorrow's game, but he made sure to note they need not treat this Sunday, or this Saturday night, any differently.

"The game is a little bit of a ways away," Vitello said regarding the series finale. "There's been words exchanged, but this isn't boxing, it's baseball. Our guys need to do whatever they gotta do tonight, whether they got family here or get some grub. Rest up and tomorrow, we'll start preparing for the way you would for any Sunday, and then we'll play ball at one o'clock."

The series finale will be broadcast on SECN+ on Sunday at 1 ET, as game three is the only game not televised in the series.

The rest of Vitello's post game press conference is above.

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