SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Vanderbilt needed some offense Saturday to get the game – and the 2020 season – going. It found that offense from an unlikely source.
Freshman catcher CJ Rodriguez helped break a tie game wide open in the sixth inning while the Commodores were en route to a 6-1 victory over Connecticut in the MLB4 Tournament at Salt Rivers Fields.
“(Friday) morning I was like, ‘The day is finally here,’ ” Rodriguez said. “I knew I was playing because we’ve had injuries, but I had to take a moment to soak it all in and realize that it’s now.”
A 5-foot-10, 185-pound native of California, Rodriguez began the season as the team’s No. 2 catcher behind veteran Ty Duvall. But Duvall, a senior, has been fighting illness all week and hasn’t been able to play.
In stepped Rodriguez.
The freshman has looked like a veteran himself in two games while catching two of the nation’s top pitchers in Mason Hickman on Friday and Kumar Rocker on Saturday. It was Rodriguez’s bat, however, that turned heads in the season’s second game.
“I was seeing the ball pretty well tonight,” Rodriguez said. “Stepped in and waited for my pitch to hit and kept getting it.”
The Commodores (1-1) trailed 1-0 in the fifth before Cooper Davis started the frame with a triple. Rodriguez took the first pitch he saw to deep right-center to plate Davis making it 1-1.
CJ Rodriguez with the sac fly to tie the game pic.twitter.com/747mRVvAB4
— Chad Bishop (@MrChadBishop) February 16, 2020
An inning later Rodriguez came up with the bases loaded and, again on the first pitch, used an ambush to smash a fly ball off the left-field wall. That scored two and put Vandy ahead 4-1.
That was more than the Dores needed the rest of the evening.
“I got a lot of reps in the fall because (Duvall) was hurt,” Rodriguez said. “I played a lot in the fall so I got a lot of reps. So it’s really just like muscle memory. It’s nothing different. I’m just playing baseball really.”
T6 » Three hits. Three RBIs.
The freshman, @Cjrod007 ❗️
⚓️ 4
🐺 1
#VandyBoys | #AnchorDown pic.twitter.com/bbQYpPClxk— Vanderbilt Baseball (@VandyBoys) February 16, 2020
Rocker (1-0) easily adjusted to being part of a new battery Saturday. The sophomore threw six innings, struck out nine, gave up just two hits (both singles) and surrendered an unearned run.
The hard-throwing righty lauded his catcher’s ability behind the plate.
“He came in the program and we were like, ‘Who is this little short guy right here?’ ” Rocker said. “But he led the team in average in the fall. Showed his catching ability, showed his arm, good dude, worked his way into the lineup and he’s probably going to stay there.”
Rodriguez graduated from Mater Dei High School in Newport Beach, California, about a six-hour drive from where he made his college debut this weekend. A Perfect Game All-American who hit .350 with 40 RBIs as a senior, Rodriguez, who also played high school basketball, was fortunate enough have a breakout weekend in front of his family who made the trip the West Coast.
The Rodriguez crew watched one of the newest Commodores go 4-for-4 with two doubles and 3 RBIs. His lone out was an RBI sacrifice fly.
Some familiar advice prior to the start of a new campaign may have been the secret to this weekend’s success so far.
“Just go play,” Rodriguez said in the message from his family. “Just go have a good time and go play baseball. At the end of the day it’s still just a game.”
T8 » Fourth hit = hustle double.@Cjrod007 continues to impress.
#VandyBoys | #AnchorDown pic.twitter.com/BiQxUhX3gt— Vanderbilt Baseball (@VandyBoys) February 16, 2020
Chad Bishop covers Vanderbilt for VUCommodores.com. Follow him @MrChadBishop.
