March 30, 2017
By Zac Ellis
VUCommodores.com
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Last Friday, Jeren Kendall stood at home plate at Hawkins Field facing a 1-2 count, two outs and Texas A&M pitcher Brigham Hill in the bottom of the second inning. Kendall’s Vanderbilt squad was staring down a 3-0 deficit early against the Aggies. But the bases were loaded, and it was Kendall’s time to shine.
That’s when it happened: Kendall launched Hill’s next pitch into the right-center field bleachers at The Hawk. The junior’s grand slam – the first by a Commodore since Zander Wiel’s four-run shot against Missouri in April 2015 – gave Vanderbilt an instant 4-3 lead. The Dores held that score to beat Texas A&M, 4-3, for just their second Friday victory of the season.
Asked about his clutch hit, Kendall admits he didn’t exactly call his shot. He just took what the Aggies gave him.
“A really good pitcher threw a really good pitch,” Kendall said. “He just left it up a little bit for me to hit.”
Kendall’s grand moment has served as an exclamation point for what has been a hot streak at the plate. The Preseason All-American is riding a seven-game hitting streak in which he has gone 15-for-33 (.455) with 14 runs, four home runs and 10 RBIs. This week the Holmen, Wisc. native earned SEC Player of the Week honors after helping the Dores to their first SEC series win of the season against Texas A&M.
Now Kendall and Vanderbilt travel to Lexington for a three-game series against No. 16 Kentucky. The Commodores hope to build on an offensive streak that’s seen them score 60 runs over their last six games. (During that stretch, Vanderbilt has gone 4-2.)
Head coach Tim Corbin said it’s no coincidence his team’s winning ways have coincided with Kendall’s offensive explosion.
“He’s a game-changer in a lot of different ways,” Corbin said. “He makes plays out there that look somewhat routine, but they’re not at all. It’s because of his abilities.”
Corbin pointed to one example of Kendall’s talent in Vanderbilt’s 10-0 win over Lipscomb on Tuesday. During one sequence, Kendall was hit by a pitch and eventually made his way to second base later in the inning. Corbin flashed the outs to his star to make sure Kendall recognized the situation. On the next hit, Kendall uncharacteristically hesitated before taking off towards third.
That hesitation might have led to an out for most college players. Not Kendall.
“His make-up speed allowed him to get around third base and score,” Corbin said. “No one else would be able to do that. He’s got a gear inside of him that’s different and you don’t see it in college athletics very often. When you do, it’s special.”
Kendall will likely use that talent to forge a future career in Major League Baseball. The junior was tabbed the No. 2 prospect in all of college baseball by Baseball America in January, a few spots ahead of teammate Kyle Wright at No. 5. But Kendall’s priority at the moment is to keep the good times rolling with Vanderbilt’s offense. With a little luck, the junior could lead the Commodores back to the College World Series.
“We all know you come to Vanderbilt for a reason: You come here because you’re good and you have the attitude to be here,” Kendall said. “Now it’s about trying to keep everything consistent within each game, within each pitch.
“Right now, as a team, we know exactly what we can do.”