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After Vanderbilt baseball took its worst loss the season, a 14-0 humiliation at the hands of Oklahoma on April 12, the Commodores held a players-only meeting.
"We just came to the conclusion that we've got to go out there, just have fun and just be us," RJ Austin said. "We're not trying to be a team that was here before. Obviously coming to Vanderbilt, you want to recreate those things, but we're different talent, we're different teams. So we got to just doing what we have here, just go out there, try to win games, to be us."
After the loss that Saturday, Vanderbilt was 7-7 in the SEC and tracking toward a 2-seed in a regional. But after that, the Commodores salvaged the series finale, 13-2. They won four of their last five series and 12 of their final 16 SEC games, capped off with a sweep of Kentucky at Hawkins Field to secure a top-four finish in the conference and a near-certain national seed in the NCAA tournament.
The Commodores (39-16, 19-11 SEC) had their wildest weekend yet against the Wildcats (29-23, 13-17), winning the first two games on walk-off home runs. The home runs, one by Braden Holcomb and one by Jonathan Vastine, were Vanderbilt's first walk-off home runs while trailing since 2020. The third game was less dramatic, but the Commodores picked up a 5-3 win after spotting the Wildcats three early runs.
Here's what we learned:
In Game 1, Vanderbilt trailed 5-0 in the first inning and 7-2 later. But, just as in the game against Alabama two weeks ago, the Commodores chipped away, eventually getting the deficit down to two entering the ninth inning. That set up Holcomb's walk-off, three-run home run, his second after the walk-off against the Crimson Tide.
In Game 2, the two teams went back and forth for several innings but Vanderbilt took a two-run lead into the ninth. With Ethan McElvain on the mound, though, the Commodores gave up three runs, including two home runs. This time, it was Vastine who came through with a two-run, walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth.
"There's not a game that's ever over with us," Vastine said after that game.
Vanderbilt has shown a level of resilience that its recent teams haven't matched, the ability to punch back whenever adversity hits.
"You can't do that without believability," coach Tim Corbin said. " ... Teams, when they develop that, that's an extra fiber, or it's like having an extra player on the field. I thought we grew last week weekend and to beat these guys, three tough ballgames that could have gone either way. We're not naive. We knew that these could swing either way."
Through the second game of the Oklahoma series, Vanderbilt had hit 13 home runs in 14 SEC games. From that point forward, the Commodores hit 27 homers in 16 games.
The surge has come from several players but is led by Holcomb, who has hit eight of his nine home runs on the season since that third game against the Sooners. Since April 12, Brodie Johnston has six home runs, Colin Barczi has five and Riley Nelson and Vastine each have four.
Nelson, Johnston, Holcomb, Barczi and Vastine have been hitting 3 through 7 in the order, giving Vanderbilt a run of power threats. During Game 1, when Brodie Johnston struck out with two runners on, Holcomb was behind him to hit the walk-off. In Game 2, Johnston hit one home run and Vastine hit two. In Game 3, with the Commodores trailing 3-1 in the sixth inning and runners on second and third with two outs, Kentucky opted to intentionally walk Holcomb to face Barczi, who came through with a two-run single to tie the game.
Part of that surge has been a new focus on hitting to the opposite field.
"Once you back the ball up and you learn how to use the back side of the field, you get to see pitches deeper," Vastine said. "You don't have to make as many moves as fast. (Corbin, hitting coach Jayson King and coaching apprentice Ro Coleman), that's all them. They talked to us once we hit a little midseason skid. We talked about it, and from there on, I mean, Barczi going backside off the wall, Holcomb always going backside."
BRODIE JOHNSTON How Brodie Johnston's meteoric rise led to starting role with Vanderbilt baseball as freshman
Vastine suffered an ankle injury in Game 2 while sliding into second base. Although he stayed in the game and started Game 3, he was clearly hobbled. The trainer went out to check on him multiple times but he remained in the game.
"He said, 'Don't take me out of the baseball game,'" Corbin said. "That's one thing about Johnny, is he hits, he plays no matter what. He is not a soft kid, obviously. I've never seen anyone train like him at shortstop. This is a senior, dives all over the field. You'd think you go into your fourth year, you probably would take it easy. Never takes it easy."
Aria Gerson covers Vanderbilt athletics for The Tennessean. Contact her at [email protected] or on X, formerly Twitter, @aria_gerson.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Vanderbilt baseball sweeps Kentucky with pair of walk-offs
Continue reading...
"We just came to the conclusion that we've got to go out there, just have fun and just be us," RJ Austin said. "We're not trying to be a team that was here before. Obviously coming to Vanderbilt, you want to recreate those things, but we're different talent, we're different teams. So we got to just doing what we have here, just go out there, try to win games, to be us."
After the loss that Saturday, Vanderbilt was 7-7 in the SEC and tracking toward a 2-seed in a regional. But after that, the Commodores salvaged the series finale, 13-2. They won four of their last five series and 12 of their final 16 SEC games, capped off with a sweep of Kentucky at Hawkins Field to secure a top-four finish in the conference and a near-certain national seed in the NCAA tournament.
The Commodores (39-16, 19-11 SEC) had their wildest weekend yet against the Wildcats (29-23, 13-17), winning the first two games on walk-off home runs. The home runs, one by Braden Holcomb and one by Jonathan Vastine, were Vanderbilt's first walk-off home runs while trailing since 2020. The third game was less dramatic, but the Commodores picked up a 5-3 win after spotting the Wildcats three early runs.
Here's what we learned:
Vanderbilt is playing with as much confidence as anyone
In Game 1, Vanderbilt trailed 5-0 in the first inning and 7-2 later. But, just as in the game against Alabama two weeks ago, the Commodores chipped away, eventually getting the deficit down to two entering the ninth inning. That set up Holcomb's walk-off, three-run home run, his second after the walk-off against the Crimson Tide.
In Game 2, the two teams went back and forth for several innings but Vanderbilt took a two-run lead into the ninth. With Ethan McElvain on the mound, though, the Commodores gave up three runs, including two home runs. This time, it was Vastine who came through with a two-run, walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth.
"There's not a game that's ever over with us," Vastine said after that game.
Vanderbilt has shown a level of resilience that its recent teams haven't matched, the ability to punch back whenever adversity hits.
"You can't do that without believability," coach Tim Corbin said. " ... Teams, when they develop that, that's an extra fiber, or it's like having an extra player on the field. I thought we grew last week weekend and to beat these guys, three tough ballgames that could have gone either way. We're not naive. We knew that these could swing either way."
A power surge
Through the second game of the Oklahoma series, Vanderbilt had hit 13 home runs in 14 SEC games. From that point forward, the Commodores hit 27 homers in 16 games.
The surge has come from several players but is led by Holcomb, who has hit eight of his nine home runs on the season since that third game against the Sooners. Since April 12, Brodie Johnston has six home runs, Colin Barczi has five and Riley Nelson and Vastine each have four.
Nelson, Johnston, Holcomb, Barczi and Vastine have been hitting 3 through 7 in the order, giving Vanderbilt a run of power threats. During Game 1, when Brodie Johnston struck out with two runners on, Holcomb was behind him to hit the walk-off. In Game 2, Johnston hit one home run and Vastine hit two. In Game 3, with the Commodores trailing 3-1 in the sixth inning and runners on second and third with two outs, Kentucky opted to intentionally walk Holcomb to face Barczi, who came through with a two-run single to tie the game.
Part of that surge has been a new focus on hitting to the opposite field.
"Once you back the ball up and you learn how to use the back side of the field, you get to see pitches deeper," Vastine said. "You don't have to make as many moves as fast. (Corbin, hitting coach Jayson King and coaching apprentice Ro Coleman), that's all them. They talked to us once we hit a little midseason skid. We talked about it, and from there on, I mean, Barczi going backside off the wall, Holcomb always going backside."
BRODIE JOHNSTON How Brodie Johnston's meteoric rise led to starting role with Vanderbilt baseball as freshman
Jonathan Vastine played through injury
Vastine suffered an ankle injury in Game 2 while sliding into second base. Although he stayed in the game and started Game 3, he was clearly hobbled. The trainer went out to check on him multiple times but he remained in the game.
"He said, 'Don't take me out of the baseball game,'" Corbin said. "That's one thing about Johnny, is he hits, he plays no matter what. He is not a soft kid, obviously. I've never seen anyone train like him at shortstop. This is a senior, dives all over the field. You'd think you go into your fourth year, you probably would take it easy. Never takes it easy."
Aria Gerson covers Vanderbilt athletics for The Tennessean. Contact her at [email protected] or on X, formerly Twitter, @aria_gerson.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Vanderbilt baseball sweeps Kentucky with pair of walk-offs
Continue reading...
