Just two days after losing four-year veteran Parker Noland to South Carolina, Vanderbilt baseball added Jayden Davis — a talented infielder who will play a significant role in filling the hole left by Noland.
Davis had an unbelievable freshman campaign at Samford University, earning him the SoCon Freshman of the Year award. Davis showed impressive offensive prowess in just one year, driving in 38 runs with 13 doubles and 9 homers to show for it. Overall, he slashed .358/.452/.542.
Perhaps most impressive was Davis’s 37-game hitting streak, the longest in Samford history. The 5’10’’, 191-pound Cookeville, Tenn., native started the season rather sluggish, playing exclusively at designated hitter through his first 15 games and batting just .250. He then moved to second base, and his season took off. Davis recorded at least one hit in every game for the remainder of the regular season and turned in 23 multi-hit performances. This streak helped raise his average by 122 points.
At Cookeville High School, Davis pitched and played shortstop. He set his school’s single-season record by tallying 60 hits in a season while batting an astounding .625. He was the top-ranked shortstop in Tennessee and the No. 3 player in the state overall, earning All-American and All-State recognition in 2021.
Davis will likely slot in as the everyday second baseman for the Commodores, allowing head coach Tim Corbin to move RJ Austin to center field, a position left vacant by the draft-bound Enrique Bradfield Jr.
Davis is Vanderbilt’s second acquisition via the transfer portal this offseason, the first being the former Air Force closer Sawyer Hawks.
