Tennessee baseball is moving on to the Knoxville Regional finals.

The Vols downed Indiana on Friday night to secure their spot.

Here's what coach Tony Vitello and players Dean Curley and Andrew Behnke had to say after the win.

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Opening statement:

"I thought the guys did a good job of grinding out at-bats. (Drew) Beam was outstanding, and it was as good as he’s thrown the ball to start a game. Then there were some long innings on offense or their offense being good, but we just hit a couple of speedbumps. We went with our gut, and the biggest part and factor of the game was how well (Andrew) Behnke threw the ball, which was outstanding for us. That’s the nature of a tournament. It’s not going to be conventional or pretty, but what you’re looking to do is put yourself in a better position for whatever the next day is. Obviously, the day for us tomorrow is Sunday. We’ll see what happens between two great programs tomorrow before us."

On what Andrew Behnke had working well for him:

"The second appearance in Hoover was as good as I’ve seen him throw the ball. There was no messing around. It was right to it, and it was coming out of his hand as good as possible. Then, the next time out was not as good, but I’d rather coach a guy that empties the clip and then is running on fumes later as opposed to a guy that doesn’t quite know how to pace himself. I think that’s the most amount of pitches he’s thrown for us while being here, so you can call it his best overall or complete outing."

On drawing a multitude of walks tonight:

"We knew we were facing a guy with phenomenal stuff, and it was just that. If anything, based off his last outing, I think in the Big 10 Tournament, he was up three miles per hour on the velocity. Christian Moore, we are always confident when he is starting the game for us, but those are three as good of pitches as he could throw at the start of the game. You knew you had your work cut out for you, but it all started with Billy (Amick). It’s really fun when he hits it over the fence. We’ve talked about his hard-contact outs all of the time. He also had one of the bigger moments in the game by simply making the guy work. We didn’t score in that first inning, but it put a halt in the momentum, and it showed our guys what the way was. It may not be conventional or pretty. It’s cool Dean (Curley) runs into one, but I think it was all set up by grinding out some at-bats."

On whether the environment in the stadium is what he envisioned when he first arrived at Tennessee:

"I think so, but I think we’ve had it. It’s weird around here. A good baseball guy here is watching the regional, and the stadium has changed every time he’s been here, and it’s like well it changes every time for us too. It just takes on different feels to it with the second deck of the porch, third deck of the porch, and then it felt like I was a football coach for a minute with the quarterback not being able to hear the play coming in there. This technology we use is whatever, but it’s pretty cool that the crowd interfered with the pitch communication and then got excited. Certainly, it put pressure on the pitcher. Connor (Foley) has big-league stuff, and our guys made it tough on him. They got kind of a John Stockton assist there from the crowd."

On his favorite part of the offense:

"You know I said Indiana’s offense is really complete, and it’s tough from top to bottom, which they've shown that, but I think our guys have that quality too. So, I think it’s more of the balance in that factor that’s built in there that any given day-we have a pitcher in here– but it could be a hitter. It was Billy (Amick) yesterday, it’s Dean (Curley) today. Someone should be fortunate enough to be that guy tomorrow, and I’m all for it being Dean again, but the odds are someone else will have a big day too. So, I think anyone in that lineup is capable of getting to you. You never know who it’s going to be that day, but I think everyone is involved and contributing, which makes it fun."

On how the lengths of the innings affected Drew Beam:

"Yeah, that’s just a conspiracy theory for me. We’ll watch the video and kind of see where the misses were, if he was in the zone or when he wasn’t, but it just didn’t look like the same guy consistently during the second part of the outing in just getting after Cal’s mitt. There were moments in there for sure, including the last hitter, which made it really difficult to take him out. I think he was at 90, and I’m kind of talking to Drew through the microphone although he doesn’t need to watch this. Arguably their best hitter is up. He had already hit a homer. I’m not so sure with that rhythm he was in, he’s not the best guy to get him, but if he would have gotten him out, I think Andrew would have started the next inning just based on pitch count. Also, sometimes, like Chad Dallas (VFL) had this outing that was really weird too. I think he only pitched four innings, but we kind of counted it as like seven because of how long the game was. He kept getting up to play catch, I think at one point he went to the bullpen. So, if he (Drew Beam) would have been able to retire the next hitter he still would have been angry with me, but I think he would’ve come out of the game because of the nature of how those innings evolved. Again, it’s a tournament, so expect anything, prepare for anything and be willing to do anything."

On what they can clean up going forward in the tournament:

"I don’t necessarily think button up, but just welcome the fact that you’re going to get challenged consistently. Speaking of the fans one more time, people started to depart a little bit for a few different reasons. It turned into a four-hour game, so I get that but by no means is it a formality to finish a game. I think Dylan’s (Dreiling) homer last night was enormous against a really scrappy team in a complete lineup that was really dangerous at the top. Today you gotta know that you signed up for a full day’s work. You take a lead that early, it’s kind of like in basketball. Teams are going to make a run at you, and in Hoover we knew dang well that they were going to make their run at us. Fortunately, Combs (Aaron) was good enough to finish that thing off, and the margin’s one. Tonight, it’s six, but it’s kind of all the same if you’re in our spot. Again, for fans, they may see it differently, but at this point they’re all closely contested games, and we’d like to have one more than the other team at the end."

MORE FROM VOLREPORT: Tennessee baseball beats Indiana to reach Knoxville Regional final

On what he was looking for in the at-bat where he hit a home run:

"I was just looking for a strike. See the ball; hit the ball. He changed up a little bit and was trying to get his slider in the front door, and I kept fouling off good pitches, and he left it over the middle of the plate."

On hitting a home run tonight:

"It’s a great feeling. It’s a one-of-one feeling, and you can’t make that feeling at any other time. It’s a great feeling, and I had great teammates that were there to make it more special."

On what was working well for him tonight:

"My changeup felt really good tonight. My slider was working, and my fastball was getting over when needed."

On the difference between tonight’s outing and his outings against LSU and Vanderbilt:

“I am not afraid to mess up. That’s kind of what I talked about with someone. I am going to go out there and just lay it out and see where it goes."

On whether he feels like he has gotten to a high level:

"Since being here, I have gotten more confident in all my stuff. I am throwing everything for a strike, slider and changeup. (I) am just going out there and throwing in the strike zone."

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