Blake Burke appeared in the game as a pinch-hitter in the fifth inning for Tennessee, hitting a solo home run.
Following Tennessee’s win against Vanderbilt, head coach Tony Vitello discussed Burke’s performance.
“It’s incredible,” Vitello said of Burke. “We were just in Starkville and Will Clark is one of the greatest players ever in this league, and I’m not so sure those swings aren’t similar. I think Chris Burke is definitely better than I am at diagnosing a swing. I think he brought up (Ken) Griffey, which to me that’s like the epitome of the sweetest swing, so just bringing up those two names speaks to how people see him, and what he did tonight, that was not a bad pitch, and where he hit it. This park kind of plays big sometimes, he can really do some special things, but if you see him in the dugout and the way he acts, if you try and give Russ five before him sometimes, he’ll kind of elbow you because he wants to beat you to him. He’s a special kid.
“It’s not next year yet, but we’ll be at a loss when these two guys (Evan Russell and Drew Gilbert) are gone for which way to steer the guys and stuff. He’s going to be one of those guys. I could go on and on about the kid, but for now, he’s carved out a niche on this team, and I think it’s valuable because you don’t want any holes. No one is going to have a complete team where they don’t feel like there’s any weaknesses, but there’s no doubt the things we ask him to do, he does very well, and he kind of provides a little bit more weaponry if that’s the right way to say it.”
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