NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The All-America accolades continued rolling in for the Commodores, who took part in the College World Series opening ceremonies Friday night.
Sophomore Austin Martin and junior JJ Bleday were named D1Baseball.com first-team All-Americans while Bleday took home first-team honorees from ABCA/Rawlings with Martin being recognized on the second team and sophomore Philip Clarke gracing the third team.
Eight Commodores have been recognized as All-Americans by six organizations including Bleday, Tyler Brown, Clarke, Drake Fellows, Martin, Ethan Paul, Patrick Raby and Kumar Rocker. The group helped lift Vanderbilt (54-11) to its fourth College World Series appearance and first since 2015.
So, last night was fun. 🎉 #CWS | #VandyBoys pic.twitter.com/pF1g6QHED5
— Vanderbilt Baseball (@VandyBoys) June 15, 2019
Bleday, who was selected fourth overall by the Miami Marlins, is the national leader in home runs (26) and boasts a 45-game on-base streak. The Panama City Beach, Florida, native leads the SEC in slugging percentage (.717) and total bases (172) and is second in RBIs (69) and runs scored (77).
Martin is Vandy’s single-season leader in runs scored (83) and is fourth in single-season hits (100). The Jacksonville, Florida, product has posted 19 multi-hit performances in his last 32 games and leads the SEC in batting average (.410), runs and on-base percentage (.503).
Clarke has recorded a hit in 23 of his last 32 games and multiple hits in 17 of the last 30 games and is tied for third in the SEC with 68 RBIs. The Franklin, Tennessee, native recorded 14 multi-hit performances and batted .395 (15-for-38) with two outs in SEC games.
No. 2 national seed Vanderbilt begins its title hunt against No. 7 national seed Louisville at 1 p.m. Sunday from the College World Series at TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha, Nebraska. The contest will be broadcast on ESPN and can be heard on WNSR 560 AM/95.9 FM and VUCommodores.com.
