NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Vanderbilt received its fourth preseason top-five ranking this week, as Baseball America tabbed the Commodores second in its Top 25 rankings Tuesday.
Vanderbilt was among six teams from the Southeastern Conference in the top 10, while the SEC led all conferences with eight teams in the rankings. The Commodores are joined by Mississippi State (No. 3), Florida (No. 6), Arkansas (No. 8), Ole Miss (No. 9), LSU (No. 10), Georgia (No. 14) and Tennessee (No. 17).
Vanderbilt registered a 49-18 record across the 2021 campaign, culminating in the program’s fifth trip to the College World Series, where they closed out the season as the national runner-up. Though six Commodores were selected in the 2021 MLB Draft, including a national-best two top-10 picks from last year’s team, Vanderbilt returns four players who were ranked among D1Baseball’s 2022 Top 100 MLB Draft Prospects: Carter Young (No. 25), Spencer Jones (No. 60), Dominic Keegan (No. 66) and Nick Maldonado (No. 74).
Vanderbilt is scheduled to open the 2022 season on Feb. 18, when the Commodores will welcome Oklahoma State, who is ranked No. 17 in Baseball America’s preseason poll, to Hawkins Field for a three-game weekend series.
