Isn’t it funny how the complexion of a season can change in the span of one week? Last Saturday, on April 12, Vanderbilt suffered its worst loss of the year: a 14-0 run rule at the hands of Oklahoma. The ‘Dores committed 2 errors and reached base just twice.
Sure, Vanderbilt bounced back in a serious way with a 13-2 Sunday victory to close the series out and avoid a sweep, but the weekend was overcast by a putrid performance at the plate and some serious starting pitching struggles. With then-No. 5 Georgia set to come to town, questions swirled about whether the Black and Gold could truly compete with one of the SEC’s elite teams. Would they suffer the same fate that they did against Arkansas — arguably their worst series loss this decade — just a few weeks prior? With as hot as Georgia’s bats were going into the series, suffering another home sweep wasn’t out of the question for Vanderbilt.
The actual result couldn’t have been further from that. Vanderbilt put a leash on the Bulldogs, sweeping its rivals to the south and winning 3-1, 13-7 and 5-2. Whatever doubts were swirling about the team’s starting pitching were put to bed on Thursday night’s opening game, when JD Thompson dazzled Commodore Nation to the tune of 8 innings pitched, 14 strikeouts and just 1 earned run.
Vanderbilt showed plate discipline and an ability to hit for power, which hasn’t been displayed all season. Let’s acknowledge how legit this series was for the Commodores; it’s their highest-ranked series sweep since March 16-18 against No. 3 Ole Miss in 2023. That was over two years ago. Hats off to head coach Tim Corbin for making some legitimate lineup adjustments and coming away with what feels like a season-changing sweep. It’s certainly more impressive than the sweeps over Texas A&M and Florida.
Corbin’s squad is now up to No. 9 in D1 Baseball’s poll and No. 8 in College America’s — the highest it has been all season. It all started with the pitching in the first game of the series. Let’s talk about it.
Turn me up, Thompson
Thompson has had his ups and downs this season. For a Friday starter with all the makings of a true ace, the southpaw junior hasn’t exactly blown MLB scouts away during SEC play. His 3.95 ERA was inflated by 5-run outings at Auburn and against Arkansas. He also got tagged for four runs against Oklahoma last weekend and has only recorded one quality start, which came against Texas A&M (6.1 innings, 1 earned run, 10 strikeouts). Thompson has the stuff and the mental game to take the next step and cement himself as an elite SEC starter — he just hadn’t done it yet.
However, he excelled on Thursday night.
After serving up a home run to the first batter he faced, Thompson held Georgia off the scoreboard for 8 innings. He threw a career-high 120 pitches and logged a career-high 14 strikeouts. To say he was electric would be an understatement — he was lights out. He probably isn’t going to replicate the performance anytime soon, and expecting him to do so would be wishful thinking. That said, Thompson proved he could be an Omaha-level starter; if Vanderbilt’s bats can keep it up, then Thompson might just be pitching on college’s biggest stage in June.
Power on?
It might be a little too early to claim that Vanderbilt has rediscovered the power it lost over the past few seasons, but if this weekend is any indication of what’s in store, fans have a lot to look forward to.
Our staff has been calling for Braden Holcomb to get more playing time all season. He flashed his stuff in the series finale against Oklahoma last weekend, hit another home run against Lipscomb during the week and — rightfully so — drew three starts against Georgia. It’s just the second time all year that Holcomb got three consecutive starts during SEC play. He proved he should be a regular moving forward, going a cumulative 7-for-11 (including a 4-for-4 night in the 13-7 win) and logging a home run and four RBIs. The sophomore slugger is hitting a mind-boggling .405 in SEC play, which leads all Commodores, and is slugging .676, which is second behind only Riley Nelson. He doesn’t have a single error in the field, either.
Brodie Johnston has seemingly found his groove, too. He is batting just .208 in SEC play, largely due to a lengthy slump (just 3 hits across 9 games and 35 plate appearances in the Arkansas, Florida and Oklahoma series). Still, he clearly found the next gear against Georgia.
“Watching freshmen that are like him, I just think that after a while they get beaten up enough that they start to understand how to hit a little bit more patiently, getting their swing off in the right situation,” Corbin said after Johnston hit two home runs against Georgia on Friday.
He also brought Vanderbilt back into the game in the seventh inning on Thursday with a solo shot to tie things up at one apiece.
Elsewhere, Nelson and Colin Barczi have shown they have the power to provide this team with the home run hitting it has been missing all season.
Angsty Austin
RJ Austin is in a serious slump right now. He hasn’t recorded a hit since the series finale against Florida on April 6. He went 0-for-7 in the first two games of this weekend’s series before sitting out the final game with an injury. His .164 batting average in SEC play is the worst among all Commodores who have started more than one game in conference play.
The junior outfielder is still a Top-100 MLB prospect, and his experience — two previous seasons as a full-time starter — is essential to the team’s success. He has the tools to break out of this slump, and, in my eyes, it’s less of a question of “if” than it is “when.”
When he gets it together, and if Nelson, Barczi, Johnston and Holcomb can stay as hot as they are right now, there’s no reason to believe Vanderbilt can’t beat any team.
Omaha stuff
Months ago, when Ethan McElvain got pulled after just 1.1 innings against Auburn, questions rose about who Vanderbilt’s third starting pitcher would be. Sawyer Hawks had been so good in middle relief that the idea of moving him to that slot was borderline unfathomable. Austin Nye was holding down the midweeks, and players like Alex Kranzler and Brennan Seiber were best used in middle relief. That’s where Connor Fennell, a sophomore transfer from Dayton, came in.
Fennell hasn’t just been good for Vanderbilt — he has been a revelation. He made his first start against Texas A&M on March 20, going for 8 strikeouts in 3.2 innings of work. He struck out 10 more against Arkansas in 5.0 innings (2 earned runs) and let up one run in 4.1 innings against Oklahoma. He leveled up against Georgia, going 5.2 innings — his longest outing of the year — and struck out a season-high 11 batters.
His emergence has allowed Kranzler, Hawks, Miller Green, Luke Guth, Tommy O’Rourke and the rest of Vanderbilt’s bullpen to play their roles to perfection.
There’s still a lot of season left and plenty can go right and wrong between now and the SEC Tournament on May 20, but Vanderbilt has a rotation of three pitchers (Thompson, Fennell and Cody Bowker) that can hold up against the best teams in the country. Those three and a dominant bullpen spearheaded by Hawks’ 1.34 ERA have led the Commodores to a team ERA of 3.61, fifth in Power Four teams and ninth in the country.
Vanderbilt now has the third-best RPI in the country, the second-best strength of schedule and an 11-7 record in the SEC, which is fifth in the conference. If the ‘Dores can close out the season strong and take care of business at home — and even win a series or two on the road — they’ll be hosting an NCAA Regional in June.
For now, though, Corbin and Co. will focus on the Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders on April 22. First pitch will be at 6 p.m. CDT at Hawkins Field.
