March 24, 2017
By Zac Ellis
VUCommodores.com
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Don’t offer too much praise for Julian Infante for his hot start with Vanderbilt baseball.
To the sophomore, it’s all just another day at the office.
“It’s just day-by-day, taking it game-by-game, sticking to stuff I try to stick to, especially in the cages,” Infante said. “Consistency is kind of what I’m hoping for.”
That consistency has come through of late for Infante. The sophomore leads Vanderbilt and ranks 11th in the SEC with a .376 batting average. He paces Vandy in hits (32) and ranks second on the team in runs (20) and RBIs (19). Infante’s production has been particularly effective in his last 11 games, when the Miami native has gone 18-for-45 (.400) with 10 RBIs and 12 runs scored.
Trouble is, Infante’s own efforts haven’t done enough to spark the Commodores. Last week they dropped their opening SEC series at Ole Miss with two losses in three games, and they sit 14-8 (1-2 SEC) after Wednesday’s 17-11 win over Belmont. This weekend, Infante hopes to get his club back on track in conference play against Texas A&M. The three-game series begins at 6:30 p.m. Friday at Hawkins Field.
The sophomore says the ‘Dores recognize their own potential, which is why they refuse to allow frustration to creep into the clubhouse.
“We’re getting better as a team, growing as a team,” Infante said. “Baseball takes care of itself. If you take care of your teammates, you take care of the little things.”
On Thursday, Infante and head coach Tim Corbin admitted the Commodores could use better starts to their weekend series. The squad is 1-4 in Friday openers this season despite effective pitching from ace Kyle Wright. Instead, Vanderbilt’s lack of run support in those matchups has been one reason behind Wright’s deceiving 0-3 record and 4.33 ERA.
Infante knows the ‘Dores’ starter deserves more as his team dives deeper into SEC play.
“It definitely bothers us,” Infante said. “We definitely want to score some runs for him.”
Vanderbilt, which ranks 11th in the SEC in batting average (.277), seems to have found its offense in recent games. The Commodores belted 22 hits over three games against Ole Miss last weekend, including 19 over the final two. In Vanderbilt’s lone win over the Rebels – a 6-2 result last Saturday – it hammered a season-high three home runs on nine hits.
Infante and company followed up by tallying a season-best 17 hits next to 17 runs against Belmont. Now Corbin hopes that momentum carries into this weekend’s series
“Confidence can be received from any event,” Corbin said. “We hit the ball reasonably well during the course of the weekend at certain times, too. Coming into [Wednesday] night, we were gifted with some bases, but at the same time we were moving the ball with a little more energy than what we’d seen.
“Hitting throughout the year comes and goes,” Corbin continued. “We’ve got some pieces that we think are pretty good, guys who have hit before in our lineup. But it’s still early, you’re 22 games into this deal. You’re still trying to figure out your offensive personality.”
Infante, who notched a career-high four hits against Belmont, has developed an identity as a weapon on Vanderbilt’s offense. But he knows his early numbers don’t matter in the long run. In the end, his goal is to help the Commodores get back to Omaha again.
“It’s not how you start,” Infante said. “It’s how you finish.”