Tourney Preview: Fresh off winning the 2025 SEC Tournament, Vanderbilt begins the Road to Omaha this weekend as the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament.
- Vanderbilt will host the Nashville Regional including Louisville, East Tennessee State and Wright State.
- The Commodores are the No. 1 overall seed for the second time in program history, the first coming in 2007.
- Vandy has been awarded a national seed eight times. This is the fourth national seed in the last six tournaments.
- Hawkins Field will host a regional for the 10th time with Vanderbilt extending its NCAA Tournament streak to 19 consecutive appearances, the longest active streak in Division I.
- The Dores are riding an eight-game win streak into the regional.
Last Time Out: Vanderbilt went 3-0 in Hoover last week to win its fifth SEC Tournament title, the fourth under head coach Tim Corbin.
- Vandy has won three of the last six tournaments (2019, ‘23, ‘25).
- Brodie Johnston earned Tournament MVP honors as a freshman, two years after RJ Austin was named MVP of the 2023 tournament as a freshman.
- Per the SEC, Vandy’s three runs allowed in three games was the fewest by an SEC Tournament champion.
- The Dores were the first team to allow fewer than five hits in three consecutive games in a single SEC Tournament and were the second champion to commit zero errors in the tournament.
- Joining Johnston on the all-tournament team was Riley Nelson and RJ Austin.
Getting Hot at the Right Time: Vanderbilt brings an eight-game win streak into the postseason.
- The streak features two wins at Tennessee, a sweep over Kentucky at home and wins over Oklahoma, Tennessee and Ole Miss at the SEC Tournament.
- Over that span, the Dores are hitting .291 as a team while holding opponents to a .229 average. The pitching staff owns a 3.73 ERA with 86 strikeouts to 27 walks in 70 innings.
- Four Commodores have double-digit hits over the last eight games:
- Braden Holcomb – .370 (10-27), 2 HR, 3B, 2B, 7 RBI
- RJ Austin – .364 (12-33), 4 2B, 11 RBI
- Riley Nelson – .355 (11-31), HR, 3 2B, 9 RBI
- Jonathan Vastine – .345 (10-29), 3 HR, 5 RBI
Vandy vs. The Field: Vanderbilt played 39 games against NCAA Tournament teams this season, going 25-14 in those contests.
- In the Nashville Regional, Louisville is the only familiar opponent this season. The Dores dropped a one-run battle at Louisville on May 6.
- All-time, Vandy is 29-13 vs. the Cardinals, 4-0 vs. Wright State and 5-0 against ETSU.
- The last meeting between Vandy and Wright State came on opening weekend of the 2021 season. The Dores won 14-1 and 1-0.
- Vandy and ETSU last faced each other in 2019 with the Commodores winning 12-4.
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.
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 league contests entering the conference tournament.
- In the second half of the SEC season, Braden Holcomb hit eight home runs (T-4th in SEC) with 22 RBI (T-7th), two triples (T-2nd), 56 total bases (T-4th) and slugged .757 (T-5th).
- Connor Fennell tied for the SEC lead with four wins over that span. Fennell’s 45 strikeouts was third most in the SEC and he held opposing hitters to a .159 average, second best in the SEC.
On the Mound and Behind It: Vanderbilt’s pitching staff leads the country in strikeouts per nine innings at 11.9.
- The Dores are fourth nationally in hits allowed per nine innings (7.20), second in the SEC, and rank third in the SEC in ERA at 3.76, ninth best in DI.
- The Dores’ seven shutouts are tied for most in the SEC and rank fourth nationally.
- Defensively, Vandy owns the fifth best fielding percentage in DI (.982), second in the SEC.
- In 57 games at shortstop, Jonathan Vastine has committed two errors, registering a .986 fielding percentage.
- JD Thompson’s 110 strikeouts ranks fifth in the SEC and 14th nationally. Sawyer Hawk’s seven saves are fourth most in the SEC.
- Connor Fennell has made 12 appearances against SEC opponents, going 4-0 with two saves. Fennell has 69 strikeouts to just 10 walks in 45.0 innings against SEC opponents.
Reliable Riley: Riley Nelson owns the fourth highest batting average among SEC players at .358.
- Nelson leads the team in average, hits and runs scored. He’s second in RBI.
- Nelson has reached base safely in all but five games. He leads Vanderbilt in multi-hit games with 24 and is tied for most multi-RBI games with 14.
