Vanderbilt Baseball has likely played its last game of the season on May 20 after losing 8-3 to the Florida Gators in the second round of the SEC Tournament.
Coming into the postseason, the Commodores’ backs were against the wall, and the team had to make a deep run or win the tournament outright to receive a bid into the regional round. Vanderbilt was the No. 12 seed, and it played the No. 13-seeded Kentucky Wildcats in the first round. With three runs batted in by Brodie Johnston and a dominant relief appearance by Adam Kranzler, who pitched 4.1 innings, allowing just one hit and one run, the Commodores were able to mount a comeback and beat the Wildcats 8-3.
Vanderbilt then, for the first time this season, faced Florida — the No. 5 seed in the tournament. Aidan King, the SEC pitcher of the year, started on the mound for the Gators, but only managed 4.2 innings as Vanderbilt tied the game 3-3 in the top of the fifth inning, knocking King out of the game. However, the Commodores would only get one more hit the rest of the way and Florida slugged its way to a five-run win with 14 hits and 3 home runs.
“I can’t believe Florida lost 18 times,” head coach Tim Corbin said following the game.
Overall, the SEC Tournament was the last hope the VandyBoys had of receiving a bid to the regional round of the NCAA Tournament. The Commodores were unable to make the run necessary to be considered for a bid and now will seemingly miss the regional round for the first time in 19 years.
While the result is very disappointing, here is what Vanderbilt baseball can take away from its week and improve upon in the future.
Having Brodie Johnston next year
After being named to the All-SEC Freshman team last year, Johnston took tremendous strides this year and ended his sophomore campaign with a .333 batting average, 1.305 on-base plus slugging percentage and hit 15 home runs.
Last year, Johnston was named the SEC Tournament MVP. This year, he continued his dominance in Hoover by going 4-for-9 with a walk, a home run, two runs scored and no strikeouts while going up against the aces for both Kentucky and Florida.
“I’ve always thought that he’s got championship traits in terms of when the team needs you, you’re at your best,” Corbin said about Johnston earlier in the season.
Johnston, who will be a junior next year for Vanderbilt, is in line to be one of the best players in all of college baseball next year. He will likely be a first-round draft pick barring anything unexpected happening.
If the Commodores rebound next year, it will be due in large part to Johnston’s bat, but he can’t do it alone.
Young roster with a lot of returns
Vanderbilt hitters’ average age was 20.7 years old, which was the third youngest in the SEC this year. The Commodores’ average pitching age was 20.3, the second youngest in the conference.
In this era of college sports, there is a lot of roster variability year by year, with players constantly coming and going via the transfer portal.
Vanderbilt baseball retains developing and rising players at a very high rate because of the program identity that coach Corbin and his staff have built. Although it is hard to say who will be starting for the Commodores next season, Mike Mancini and Logan Johnstone are the only two cornerstone players who are out of eligibility.
The MLB Draft and transfer portal could poach a few players, such as Braden Holcomb and Connor Fennell, but next year’s team will have a lot of impactful returners.
“I really like that infield,” Corbin said when discussing the roster’s outlook for next year. “I love Ryker [Waite]. I love Brodie [Johnston]. I love Rooster [Rustan Rigdon], Goodin [Tommy Goodin]. I mean, that’s a good nucleus.”
These players made up an offense that set the Vanderbilt program record for home runs hit in the regular season with 107. Returning that many players from an already potent lineup is a massive boost for the Commodores to rebound next year.
As shown this year, success isn’t just about home runs, and Vanderbilt needs to build around its nucleus this offseason.
Pitching and portal changes
The story all season long for the VandyBoys has been inconsistent pitching. In the SEC Tournament, the problem continued as Vanderbilt allowed 22 hits in just two games.
The issue was due, in large part, to a lack of pitching talent brought in through the transfer portal to replace the seven pitchers that left the year before. Vanderbilt lost four pitchers to the MLB Draft, and three other pitchers transferred as well. Still, despite the vast number of departing arms, the Commodores only landed Nate Taylor and Jacob Faulkner in the transfer portal.
Taylor and Faulkner were relievers at their prior schools and finished their seasons at Vanderbilt with earned run averages of 8.89 and 4.25, respectively.
“We don’t dip into the portal a lot,” Corbin said earlier in the year. “It’s a balancing act in terms of getting players. Whether it’s incoming high school kids, being able to acquire them, finances probably help to that some degree. And really, our opportunity in the portal is [that] we probably have to go [for] freshmen and sophomores. We can’t get a junior. So we have our own challenges that way.”
According to On3’s NCAA Baseball transfer portal class ratings, the Commodores had the No. 28 transfer class in the country last offseason. In 2023 and 2024, they were ranked No. 36. Vanderbilt is hesitant to dip in the portal, but in the current state of college baseball, it is almost a necessity and has been a reason for Vanderbilt’s shortcomings over the past few years.
The pitching staff is young and includes freshmen, such as Tyler Baird, Wyatt Nadeau and Connor Hamilton, who pitched a lot of innings this year and showed promise to become reliable arms.
Still, Vanderbilt can’t make the same mistake it made again and should address and bring in multiple pitchers in the portal to help build up the talent and consistency of the rotation again.
Hopefully, the 19-year regional streak snapping is a wake-up call for the program, and Vanderbilt will be able to restore its claim as one of the top-performing baseball programs in the country.
