#9 Vanderbilt Commodores (39-16, 19-11 SEC) • SEC Tournament (Hoover, Ala.)
Quarterfinals: Thursday, May 22 @ TBA • SEC Network
Semifinals: Saturday, May 24 @ Noon CT • SEC Network
Championship: Sunday, May 25 @ 2 p.m. CT • ESPN2
Tourney Preview: Vanderbilt heads into the SEC Tournament as the No. 4 seed and will take on either Georgia or Oklahoma on Thursday.
- Vanderbilt will be looking for its fifth SEC Tournament championship, the fourth under head coach Tim Corbin. The Dores last won the tournament title in 2023.
- The Commodores reached 19 SEC victories during the regular season for the fourth time in the last six seasons.
- Vandy has finished .500 or better in SEC play 17 times in the last 21 seasons.
- Vanderbilt has made 10 SEC Tournament finals appearances since 2004, the most of any SEC team.
- The Commodores have won at least one game each of the last five appearances.
- Tim Corbin holds the record for most SEC Tournament wins with 47 and is second among active coaches with the most tournament titles with 3, trailing only Paul Mainieri.
Last Time Out: Vanderbilt swept Kentucky at Hawkins Field to finish the regular season on a five-game win streak.
- Vandy hit back-to-back walk-off home runs to win the first two games against the Wildcats, part of three consecutive walk-off homers at home.
- Braden Holcomb hit a three-run, walk-off home run to win Game 1 vs. Kentucky as the Dores rallied from a five-run deficit.
- Jonathan Vastine provided the heroics in Game 2, hitting a two-run, walk-off homer after Kentucky scored three runs in the top of the ninth to take the lead. Vastine homered twice in the game, both opposite field shots to left.
- No walk-off was needed in Game 3 as Connor Fennell was dominant out of the bullpen. Fennell took over on the mound in the top of the fifth and shutout the Wildcats over the final five innings, allowing just one hit.
Second Half Surge: Vanderbilt found another gear in Game 3 at Oklahoma on April 13. The Dores went 7-7 through the first 14 SEC games before finishing 12-4 over the final 16 SEC games.
On the Mound and Behind It: Vanderbilt’s pitching staff leads the country in strikeouts per nine innings at 11.9.
- The Dores are seventh nationally in hits allowed per nine innings (7.39), second in the SEC, and rank fourth in the SEC in ERA at 3.91.
- The Dores’ six shutouts are second in the SEC and 10th nationally.
- Defensively, Vandy owns the seventh best fielding percentage in DI (.982), third in the SEC.
- JD Thompson’s 70 strikeouts in SEC games ranks fifth in the SEC.
- Sawyer Hawk’s six saves on the season is sixth most in the SEC.
- Connor Fennell has made 11 appearances in SEC action, going 4-0 with 67 strikeouts to just nine walks in 42.0 innings.
All-SEC Awards: Three Commodores were recognized with postseason awards from the SEC.
- Sawyer Hawks was named Second Team All-SEC while Brodie Johnston earned SEC All-Freshman and All-Defensive honors.
- RJ Austin was named to the All-Defensive team and the SEC Community Service team.
Reliable Riley: Riley Nelson finished the regular season with a .355 average, 69 hits and 45 runs scored, all tops on the team.
- Of the three players who ranked top-10 in the SEC in both batting average and on-base percentage, Nelson was the only one not to receive posteason SEC honors.
- Nelson has reached base safely in all but five games. He leads Vanderbilt in multi-hit games with 22 and is tied for most multi-RBI games with 13.
Johnny V: Vanderbilt shortstop Jonathan Vastine has been one of Vanderbilt’s best hitters in conference play to compliment his premier defense.
- Vastine is hitting .327 in SEC games with seven home runs and 20 RBI. He has made just two errors all season long.
- The Florida native was named to the midseason watch list for the Brooks Wallace Award recently, recognizing the country’s top shortstop.
- He led the team in doubles (18) last season and, after leading Vandy with 18 doubles in 2023, became the first Commodore since Dansby Swanson to lead the team in doubles in back-to-back seasons.
- In D1Baseball’s 2025 preseason position rankings, Vastine came in at No. 10 among all shortstops.
- According to D1Baseball’s Synergy stats, Vastine’s 11.27 defensive runs saved last season was good for eighth nationally and ranked first among SEC shortstops.
