June 2, 2016
VANDERBILT RE-VU
Vanderbilt was eliminated from the SEC Tournament with a 13-3 loss to Texas A&M on Friday. Kyle Wright was tagged for a career-high 10 runs in the loss. The Commodores dropped their first game of the SEC Tournament in a 12-9 loss to Ole Miss on Thursday. Jeren Kendall and Bryan Reynolds each had three hits and three RBI in the loss. Vanderbilt used Walker Grisanti’s first career home run to beat Texas A&M 6-5 on Wednesday. Grisanti’s solo homer led off the ninth inning. The Commodores opened the SEC Tournament with the team’s ninth shutout of the season in a 7-0 win over Missouri. Bryan Reynolds’ two-run double and Patrick Raby’s six scoreless innings led the way.
ON THE BUMP
Friday, June 3
RHP Jordan Sheffield (8-5, 2.73) vs. LHP Zac Lowther (6-5, 3.22)
Saturday, June 4
TBA vs. TBA
THE NCAA TOURNAMENT
Vanderbilt enters the NCAA Tournament for the 11th straight year, the longest streak in the Southeastern Conference. Under head coach Tim Corbin the Commodores have been to 12 Regionals in his 14 seasons having won three in a row. Vanderbilt hosts a Regional for the fourth straight year and fifth time in six seasons. VU is 33-18 all-time in NCAA Regionals dating back to the program’s first in 1973. Coach Corbin’s record in Regionals is 30-10, including a 9-1 mark over the last three years.
THE FIELD
Three teams travel to Nashville with only one knowing the way. Xavier played the Commodores at Hawkins Field earlier this year in the Dores’ final non-conference weekend match-up in mid-March. Vanderbilt swept the Musketeers in the three-game series, outscoring XU 26-5. Xavier enters the Regional after winning the Big East Tournament last week. The Musketeers and Commodores squared off in the first round of the 2014 NCAA Nashville Regional with the Dores rolling to an 11-0 win. For UC Santa Barbara and Washington it will be their first-ever trip to Hawkins Field. UCSB finished third in the Big West and crosses the Mississippi River for the second time this season after playing at College of Charleston in early April. Washington finished as the runner-up in the Pac-12 and makes the team’s farthest trip east this season after an opening weekend trip to Baylor serving as the furthest east the Huskies have travelled this year.
HOT IN THE MIDDLE
Over the last seven games the Commodores’ middle infield has featured a pair of freshmen in Connor Kaiser (SS) and Alonzo Jones (2B). The duo has been two of the Dores’ hottest hitters during the stretch combining to go 16-for-45 (.356) with eight RBI and seven runs scored. Center fielder Bryan Reynolds has been the hottest Commodore over the last seven, going 12-for-26 (.462) with five extra-base hits, eight runs and nine RBI. Reynolds was the lone Commodore to be named to the SEC All-Tournament team last week after he went 7-for-15 (.467) with six RBI and three extra-base hits.
HOME SWEET HAWKINS
Vanderbilt has enjoyed the friendly confines of Hawkins Field this season with a 31-5 record. The Vandy offense has been productive hitting .301 as a team led by Jeren Kendall’s .373 average and 24 extra-base hits. The Dores score an average of 8.03 runs per game at home compared to 4.47 runs per game on the road. Jordan Sheffield and Kyle Wright have been outstanding at home to lead the pitching staff. Sheffield is 7-0 with a 0.82 ERA to go along with 72 strikeouts in 54.2 innings over eight starts at The Hawk. Wright is 5-1 with a 1.90 ERA in his eight starts at home. The pitching staff as a whole has punched out 391 over 329.0 innings on West End with a 2.71 ERA. Over the last four seasons the Commodores are 124-30 (.805) at Hawkins Field.
KENDALL MATCHES TRIPLES RECORD
Jeren Kendall moved into a three-way tie for the most triples in Vanderbilt history in a single season with his three-run triple in the ninth inning last Thursday against Ole Miss. Kendall now sits atop the single-season triples list along with Tony Kemp (2012) and Ryan Klosterman (2004). Kemp holds the school career record with 21, posting seasons with eight, seven (2011) and six (2013). Kendall’s six last season have him tied for the fifth-most in a single Vanderbilt season and his 14 career triples trail only Kemp.