Jay Abernathy (April 16, 2026)

Kiv's Korner, presented by Calhoun's, is back with infielder/outfielder Jay Abernathy.

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:00

Welcome back, the show within a show with food. Brought to you by our sponsor, Cal Hoons. This is what you get when you sweep Mississippi State. You get Calhoons, the sponsor of the show within the show, Kibbs Corner, with Ross Kibbett, Tennessee Assistant Baseball Coach and recruiting coordinator. All this is for you and for your guests.

SPEAKER_01 0:32

I want my guest and his friends to do this more often.

SPEAKER_02 0:35

It smells amazing. So this feature is only going to last like two minutes because as soon as we're done, we can get to the ribs, the biscuits, the cardbread, the brisket, the pork, the spinach maria, the beans, the slaw.

SPEAKER_01 0:52

What a guest. What a guest. The fastest guest we've ever had. He can really run. That's one of his tools. He's got personality, which is why he's here too. And he helped our team with a humongous Saturday. Sweep Mississippi State. He's from Atlanta, Georgia. Yes, he is. North Cop High School. Hackworth, Georgia. Jay. How are we doing? Abernatch. Welcome. Thanks for having me. I like this guest. Not that I haven't liked all of them. He's been asking. You have been asking. He is not a hater. I'm not a hater. He's a lover. Yeah. I'm excited to have him. I have a lot of good questions. Well, let's go. The first one is probably the deepest one because I am a journalist. Yes, you are. Expectation prior to the season. You have a, I would say a solid freshman year. In and out of the lineup. Then you're getting a start every day, not the start you wanted. You're moving positions, you're playing second, you're playing center, you played some left. You even DH'd the game in out, not your best start, but your mentality, the way you do your business. The last two weeks in SEC play started to show up. How?

SPEAKER_00 1:53

Nothing changes. I mean, I kept my same routine. And then um, I mean, coming back in a dugout after the struggles and having guys like you, E-lander, Elander, and just guys around me just keeping pushing me forward. Like, that's the reason why I'm still going. So the mental part of the games is tough and it's hard to get to, but the routine is the reason why I'm still going.

SPEAKER_01 2:15

It's hard on these guys because they want to do well. I I think that's kind of the funniest thing about um sports in general, is fans are super passionate. That's why we love working in Knoxville. No one's like trying to do bad. We don't like go, hey, let's suck today.

unknown 2:31

Right.

SPEAKER_01 2:31

But especially in a game of failure where we've talked about on the show, three of ten, it's like Hall of Fame. But guys that come in heavily recruited, um, Cape Cod player, team USA watch list, and then you struggle. Well, how do you get out of it? You're starting a show. What is one thing that you said about your routine that you fall back on that you're going, I know if I do this every day over 56, it's gonna work out.

SPEAKER_00 2:57

So it's nothing to do with anything physical before the game's all right now, something that I'm grateful for every day. The reason why I'm still going to the field, and that's something that keeps me going. So that's literally it. On the bus before Starkville, Friday night, Saturday night, Sunday night, everything was something that I was grateful for. And Friday night was just the teammates that I have around me to keep pushing me to play this game.

SPEAKER_01 3:20

So his teammates, they they seem to always kind of be around you. You're always smiling, you're keeping it loose, whether you're starting or or in late in the game or whatnot. Is that something you've always had? Is that something that you had in high school? Where does that positivity come from? Is that how you were raised on? Like going into some detail on that.

SPEAKER_00 3:40

So I mean, I've never really had um, I guess, like the struggle of being in and out of the lineup. So learning this um has been something that I've had to overcome, but being positive is something that like you're able to do every day. Like that's controllable. So I feel like if that's something I can do to bring something towards the team, then why not be positive?

SPEAKER_02 4:01

I agree. And if you've learned that at your age, that's an amazing gift, whether you're an athlete or not.

SPEAKER_01 4:07

I think the other thing that people always ask me when they stop me, and if you get brought up, is how does he handle infield, which is a different type of wear and tear? It's a different type of cardio, plus outfield, how do you balance out your reps and do you prefer one or the other? And you don't have to say infield because I run the infield.

SPEAKER_00 4:25

No, I I mean I I came here as an infielder, and that's something that I like love as um and I've been doing pretty much my whole life. But being able to do both is so cool because I'm able to be dynamic. And so me saying I prefer one or the other, like I I can't even really answer that right now, to be honest. Okay, scouts are watching. Sure. I'm a utility.

SPEAKER_02 4:46

Well, the more that you can do, the better. Do you have different gloves for infield and outfield?

SPEAKER_00 4:51

I do. So I have two for the infield, and I just have one for the outfield. Why do you have two for the infield?

SPEAKER_01 4:56

One turns double plays, one doesn't.

SPEAKER_00 4:58

Oh shout out, Ricky. Shout out Rick. No, I just have one. One is black that goes with our black jerseys, and the other one is green. Oh, it's a style big. It's a style.

SPEAKER_02 5:07

See, I like that even better. Swag. By the way, I just got our swagger. I just want to say the Sundays, the Sunday uniform with the crazy. The creams. The creams look good. Do you like the new creams? But I but I also like the black hat with the Tennessee jersey. It looks great. We're checkerboarding Neeland this Saturday. That's right. Are you excited about that?

SPEAKER_01 5:26

I am excited about that because the fans love that. I think it's cool too. It is cool. What jerseys do you want to wear for that? They're already picked out. Probably white on orange would be smart. White on orange, probably. Yeah, I'll make the decisions, right? What about the team struggles? You go through SEC and you start 4-8, and you're looking down the barrel of what could be the toughest place to play in the country. Starkville has literally nothing else to do but go to the games. Everything closes at 9:30. And you and your groups get off that bus Thursday night, have an unbelievable practice, and then you say, hey, from here on out, we're just gonna do it kind of our way. What leads to that?

SPEAKER_00 6:07

I mean, before the games, you have Henry Ford, Reese Chapman, Stone Lawless that didn't even make the trip, that are talking to us and just keeping us pushing forward. Like Stone is sending things in the group chat that can't probably can't be said on here, but they're funny. And like he is is someone that really shows true leadership on this team. And so the motto has been why not?

SPEAKER_02 6:34

Winning the first game, was it kind of a now we can put some things behind us and move on?

SPEAKER_00 6:40

Yeah, I'll say that, but honestly, when we had our pitching meeting, um, the mound visit, Henry Ford looked around and was like, We've been here before. So it wasn't really a here we go again, to be honest. It was like a we've learned from this, let's do it, let's just keep going. So I I I will say that Friday definitely propelled us forward because we're like, hey, we got them on the ropes, let's keep going, let's let's you know, stomp on their stomp on their grave a little bit.

SPEAKER_01 7:07

Yeah, I like that because it ends in the left column. Shout out John John Wilkerson. What what about when Saturday you you have a humongous two out RBI, right? It's left on left. They bring him in to face just you. Um, well, he had faced the guy before you, but struck him out. I think it was Levi, right? And now you're up with a runner at second base and you slap a ball down the left field line. After the game, Coach G. Lander says, when you're using the whole field, you're one of the best players in the country. Every fan wants to go, use the whole field, Jay, right? But it's hard because they're manipulating the pitch and there's different pitch shape. What are you saying to yourself when you swing at the first pitch, which is a heater, right? And you and you blast that third base screen.

SPEAKER_00 7:49

What's the approach going in? So before, before I even stepped out to go on the um on deck, I was talking with Elander, and um he was like, everything's out and over the plate. So everything, uh, and don't give up because you know he had a little bit of sink. So don't give up on the pitch that's on the outer half. So I was like, this is what I'm gonna, I'm just gonna hit a line drive over the shortstop. And it played into my barrel path, and it went past the third baseman and just stuck to their approach.

SPEAKER_02 8:17

Situational hitting was fantastic this weekend. I mean, the bunt to get the run home, the the different things that Tennessee executed to me, and for both of you, you could pick up on this. It was just such good baseball. And the pitching was just such good baseball, and the defense. I mean, it was in it was in every area that you watch Tennessee this weekend and you thought, wow, that team is execute. Yeah. And nobody likes to play that team because those teams are hard to beat.

SPEAKER_01 8:49

Don't let me speak for you, but I feel like teams in the league are going, man, we might have got away with it in the first few weeks. Right. Because they're still kind of learning. It is a young group. I mean, your sophomore class gets more heat than maybe anybody. And I have a question on expectations later. But when when you're going and it's not going as well, and then they watch this past weekend, they're going, oh man, if this team learns how to finish, they've been ahead in almost every single SEC game. We could be in some trouble. Right. I mean, I'm sure that that's where some of the confidence level started to build, especially after Friday when Appy was you know politely waived good by the most of that group. Right. I mean, do you have anything to add on maybe some momentum stuff?

SPEAKER_00 9:30

I mean, that's just our brand of baseball. I feel like we're barely scratching the surface of of what it can be. I mean, we we talk about how we were in every SEC game that we've played this year. Maybe not a couple, but I mean, that's our brand of baseball, and it's just gonna get better.

SPEAKER_01 9:45

How about leadership amongst the clubhouse? How do you pick up a reliever? I I mean, your roommates with a couple of the relief pitchers that may have struggled early on, especially in league play. How do you keep their spirits up where then they come out and you see Brandon Arvidson pitch well and Abenzel has been doing his thing? But Rudy was fantastic. Guys that you're always around in inside the team lounge. Like, what's kind of the talk amongst that?

SPEAKER_00 10:09

I mean, the talk is just to just keep going because we're all having our like minor struggles as a team, and um, we can get through them. So, you know, I talked to a couple guys that are also going through that and just tell them just keep going because that's all you can do, and then trust your stuff and go out there and dominate.

SPEAKER_01 10:27

He's a TV show watcher, or you were. What are you watching right now?

SPEAKER_00 10:31

What did you watch on the plane? What did I watch on the plane? I watched this Netflix show called Alice in the Borderland. Ethan Moore and Blaine Brown, you know, and um, who else was there? Blake Grimer.

SPEAKER_01 10:44

Ethan Moore has a funny story, coach, and I think we could talk about it here. Sure. Ethan Moore has now started. I would say it's more of an usher than than like amigos. Awesome. He's kind of a rapper, RB. Yeah, he's he was a new for both. Yeah, post-page. He's our karaoke guy. Nice. We have a karaoke guy, it's exciting.

SPEAKER_02 11:06

It's so baseball. It's so baseball. Shout out, baseball.

SPEAKER_01 11:08

Shout out that's baseball.

SPEAKER_00 11:10

Shout out Ethan Moore.

SPEAKER_01 11:11

What about the at bats that like hey, some of these at bats, Manny Marin hitting it from you, Levi with a huge double. And then let's talk about the the Latino swag in the middle. You go to center, they bring in Ariel, top spin rocket to second. After a Manny play that I'm going, fantastic. You can't even coach that. That's just a skill set. And how does that kind of uplift a group of pitchers going, hey, I can throw strikes. I don't, I don't have to try to strike everybody out. What's the emphasis on that? And then you personally, how much has your defense improved since getting here?

SPEAKER_00 11:48

I mean, first let's talk about the past three weeks. E-Laners been talking about when you come in the game, you gotta be ready. So shout out to Ariel for being ready. Shout out show Ariel, shout out to Ariel for for being ready in that in that spot, and then Manny making that fantastic play. I mean, that's that's something that you really can't even teach. But like on the defensive side, it gives pitchers a break and uh a sense of like, you know, I got somebody behind me that that's gonna be able to make those plays for me. And then when it comes to my defense over time, like it's just been reps here on reps, on reps, and I feel like uh I've improved tenfold in the infield and outfield, honestly.

SPEAKER_01 12:27

Doing both is so hard. Sure is he's underselling it because he's so athletic, he's skilled. I could never I had to do one at a time. I had to move to the outfield in professional baseball because I did not run. And you're like, well, why did you go to the outfield? Because I could not throw either, so I had to go play left field. No offense to Blaine Brown because he could throw that. But these guys that are getting the reps, it's it's amazing how they balance it, plus the hitting. Plus, you go to school still, like this isn't professional sports. You're going to school, you have off the field. What's something that you like to do with the guys? Because this is a get to know Jay Kibb's corner as well.

SPEAKER_00 13:03

So, I mean, we play the game all the time. We'll go to the hot tubs with Frederick, Rudy, Myatt, we'll all just chill there, hang out. Man, that's really it. We just like our our downtime really consists of we'll either go get clothes, like look around at the mall. His glove matches the jersey. Got to. That's good. Got to.

SPEAKER_02 13:22

Aura. Aura. Oh, that's new. What is that? Aura. Aura. I don't know what this means. If it's a guy-only term and there's a girl-only term for it, I don't know. What is there?

SPEAKER_00 13:33

If you have aura, you have aura.

SPEAKER_02 13:36

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 13:36

I think Carlin has aura. She has aura. She's got aura. Aura. I think too. Our team has a lot of fashionistas on it. You imagine the sleeves, the shoes. It's pretty stylish. Let's go anti-aura. Anti-aura. What did you think about Trent Grindlinger's turn in the ninth inning in a pretty big game with two outs needing him to get the second base? And he looked like he got his legs taken out by the first base. Yeah. Literally the base that the basement. What are you thinking when that goes down?

SPEAKER_00 14:08

Well, my first initial reaction was like I had tears coming out of my eyes. Like I was genuinely laughing. And then I heard the carnival music after that, and I was like, oh. It was really good. And then Trent, the first, I promise you, first word he says were, I lost 10,000 aura points. Nice. And so, I mean, we talked about aura. That was anti-aura.

SPEAKER_01 14:31

Let's look forward to this series. Ole Miss. They're hot. Five and one in their last six in the league. Let's focus more on Hunter Elliott because you've seen him before. Yeah. Left-hander, it's it's an old player. He mixes both, change up to left-handers. What's the one way that you would probably want to attack it as far as being a guy that is still young but has reps in the league?

SPEAKER_00 14:54

If we're going to attack Hunter Elliott, I would say get his heater early because he's going to want to spin everything else. Um, so if you get deep in the count, it's going to be tough. But if you hop on that heater early, then you'll you'll be fine. Um, and then let's see. You know, we got other arms in the pen. And then on Sunday, I know we have Kate Townsend. Was he an area code guy?

SPEAKER_01 15:14

He was uh East Coast Pro uh East Coast Pro and Area Code are two like really large tournaments at the end of the summer for guys essentially that are gonna be seniors to build their draft. I thought the area code was West Coast. It is so East Coast Pro is now in um they they do both. It's crazy how much money your family spend in the summer. They go to Hoover for like five days, Hoover Alabama. Sure. And then they fly from Hoover to, I guess it's in San Diego, so they're going to San Diego for a week. Wow. And it's a it's basically like, hey, people gotta work.

SPEAKER_02 15:47

Tennessee fans know the Abernathy name from the Atlanta area because there have been some of your relatives who have played here and have done a great job. The Abernathy name in the Atlanta area is special for a lot of different reasons. How much pride do you have in that and how much responsibility do you feel to live up to the Abernathy name, knowing those who have come before you three three generations now to you, what it means and and how you feel about it on a day-to-day basis, representing all of your family?

SPEAKER_00 16:26

Yeah, I mean, it's a blessing, first of all. Um, when I'm whenever I'm back in town, like I'll drive and I'll see the road signs that say Abernathy Road, and it's just like it's kind of surreal that that's you know, that's something I'm a part of. Um, and then just going about it on a day-to-day basis, being able to see Abernathy on my jersey, like that's something that I'm I'm living towards, you know, when I have a family, when when I have a son, I want him to be able to embody the same things that that we do, and um just having that respect. And we go back to positivity, which we talked about earlier, like that's something that is like a staple in my family. Like, that's where I get it from. You know, I learned from my dad and my mom, like, you know, you stay positive no matter what happens in your life. So that's something that I um I I truly embed in my life.

SPEAKER_02 17:11

Well, no shout out or joke here. You represent it well, and that's a big deal. And I know the Tennessee fans are really proud that the Abernathy's have been part of this Tennessee family and continue to be. It's a big deal.

SPEAKER_01 17:25

I appreciate that. I'm just happy we have him. Well, yeah, that's fair too. Yeah, he's so dynamic, not only with his play, but his personality and how he leads a group of older players as a sophomore, is probably what we just talked about. That's right. Coming from his family name and how you were raised, but I appreciate you jumping on here. I I'm really glad that you being a lover of Kibb's Corner, got to come on here. So shout out Cal Hooch.

SPEAKER_02 17:52

Shout out Cal Hooch, who's the sponsor of Kibb's Corner, Jay Abernathy, Ross Kivitt, and me, Mike Keith. The show within a show. Go ahead and get a basket. I'm gonna go cornbread. We've got more coming at you. Well, I know I love cornbread. Back with more right after this.