Jan. 12, 2016
Nashville, Tenn. — Vanderbilt is the No. 3 team in the nation according to D1Baseball.com, putting the Commodores at No. 3 in both polls that have been released to date.
The Dores enter the 2016 season as the only program in the nation to have won at least 50 games each of the last three seasons after the team went to the College World Series for the second straight year, finishing as the National Runner-Up last season. Head Coach Tim Corbin’s roster features 23 returning lettermen from last year’s squad with a 13-man freshman class that was named as the top recruiting class in the nation. On the field, the Commodores are led by junior Bryan Reynolds, who along with sophomore Will Toffey, picked up his second preseason All-American nod this week when Perfect Game named him a second team outfielder. Toffey picked up third team honors after earning Freshman All-American status last season. Jeren Kendall was tabbed a preseason All-American last month by Collegiate Baseball along with pitchers Ben Bowden and Kyle Wright.
The D1Baseball.com poll has a strong Southeastern Conference flavor at the top with three of the top four teams in the league and four of the top seven. Florida tops the initial poll followed by Louisville, Vanderbilt, Texas A&M, Oregon State, Miami, LSU, Oklahoma State, California and NC State to round out the top 10. Mississippi State (15), South Carolina (17) and Arkansas (25) give the SEC six teams in the first poll of the year, tied for the most of any conference along with the Atlantic Coast Conference.
Vanderbilt opens the 2016 season at home against San Diego on February 19. The Commodores’ annual team banquet is set for February 13 at the Omni Hotel in Downtown Nashville with the team signing autographs prior to the event where Coach Corbin will preview the season and team. Tickets for the banquet are available now by clicking here or by calling 615.322.GOLD.
