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HOOVER, AL − Vanderbilt baseball coach Tim Corbin made his pitch to the NCAA selection committee after the Commodores won their first game of the SEC Tournament against Kentucky.
The No. 12 seed Commodores (33-24) defeated the No. 13 seed Wildcats 8-5 on May 19. Vanderbilt finished with a 14-16 SEC record; the last time a 14-16 SEC team did not make the NCAA Tournament was in 2017. However, the Commodores have an RPI of No. 69, which would be the lowest to ever receive an at-large bid.
Vanderbilt, which faces No. 5 seed Florida (37-18) in the second round on May 20, could control its own destiny by winning the SEC Tournament. But Corbin has already begun to make his team's case for a bid.
Corbin mentioned the team's injury situation, being without several key pitchers for much of the year. The pitching staff has gotten healthier down the stretch, returning Matthew Shorey, Miller Green and Aiden Stillman. Colin Barczi also missed significant time and has since returned, albeit only as a DH.
He also said the team has improved down the stretch after a bad start to the season and has lost some close games, including one-run losses in rubber matches to Oklahoma and Texas.
"I think (RPI is) a tool," Corbin said. "I think it's for scheduling, mathematics, it's a tool. But I don't think it's the whole tool. I think common sense prevails. When you look at a bucket of work, I think you look at a team from start to finish, what they've done. I know we start off 13-12 and now we're 20-12 in the last half. ... We scheduled in tournaments tough, and we didn't get off to a good start. We've had our challenges, obviously, with health. And we've overcome them to some degree.
"It hasn't been easy at all. ... I think we're a pretty damn good team. We're judged by the best conference and the best teams in college baseball, but there's also a lot of precedence for a team that's 14-16. But obviously sitting in this seat, it's not about talk, it's about doing. But at the same time, I don't think the RPI is just the one indicator. It may speak to what you have done, but it doesn't speak to how you've done it and the body of work that exists with what we've done. Our margins have been small in some of the series we lost, whether it's Oklahoma or Texas, but we've played pretty good baseball down this stretch, and usually the committee takes that into effect in terms of where a team is moving, and our trajectory has been pretty good."
Kentucky (31-21) could be an interesting resume comparison for Vanderbilt. The Commodores, including the SEC Tournament, won three of four head-to-head matchups with the Wildcats, and Kentucky only won two SEC series overall.
Entering the game, every major bracket projection had Kentucky in and Vanderbilt out.
Aria Gerson covers Vanderbilt athletics for The Tennessean. Contact her at [email protected] or on X @aria_gerson.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Tim Corbin on Vanderbilt baseball NCAA Tournament resume after Kentucky win
Continue reading...
The No. 12 seed Commodores (33-24) defeated the No. 13 seed Wildcats 8-5 on May 19. Vanderbilt finished with a 14-16 SEC record; the last time a 14-16 SEC team did not make the NCAA Tournament was in 2017. However, the Commodores have an RPI of No. 69, which would be the lowest to ever receive an at-large bid.
Vanderbilt, which faces No. 5 seed Florida (37-18) in the second round on May 20, could control its own destiny by winning the SEC Tournament. But Corbin has already begun to make his team's case for a bid.
Corbin mentioned the team's injury situation, being without several key pitchers for much of the year. The pitching staff has gotten healthier down the stretch, returning Matthew Shorey, Miller Green and Aiden Stillman. Colin Barczi also missed significant time and has since returned, albeit only as a DH.
He also said the team has improved down the stretch after a bad start to the season and has lost some close games, including one-run losses in rubber matches to Oklahoma and Texas.
"I think (RPI is) a tool," Corbin said. "I think it's for scheduling, mathematics, it's a tool. But I don't think it's the whole tool. I think common sense prevails. When you look at a bucket of work, I think you look at a team from start to finish, what they've done. I know we start off 13-12 and now we're 20-12 in the last half. ... We scheduled in tournaments tough, and we didn't get off to a good start. We've had our challenges, obviously, with health. And we've overcome them to some degree.
"It hasn't been easy at all. ... I think we're a pretty damn good team. We're judged by the best conference and the best teams in college baseball, but there's also a lot of precedence for a team that's 14-16. But obviously sitting in this seat, it's not about talk, it's about doing. But at the same time, I don't think the RPI is just the one indicator. It may speak to what you have done, but it doesn't speak to how you've done it and the body of work that exists with what we've done. Our margins have been small in some of the series we lost, whether it's Oklahoma or Texas, but we've played pretty good baseball down this stretch, and usually the committee takes that into effect in terms of where a team is moving, and our trajectory has been pretty good."
Kentucky (31-21) could be an interesting resume comparison for Vanderbilt. The Commodores, including the SEC Tournament, won three of four head-to-head matchups with the Wildcats, and Kentucky only won two SEC series overall.
Entering the game, every major bracket projection had Kentucky in and Vanderbilt out.
Aria Gerson covers Vanderbilt athletics for The Tennessean. Contact her at [email protected] or on X @aria_gerson.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Tim Corbin on Vanderbilt baseball NCAA Tournament resume after Kentucky win
Continue reading...
