Vanderbilt Baseball Stays Undefeated In SEC, Winning 17 Of Their Last 18 Games

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Enrique Bradfield Jr. Photo: Courtesy of Vanderbilt Athletics

So we all knew Vanderbilt baseball was going to be good this season, but I’m not sure many people had them sweeping Ole Miss, Mississippi State and Georgia before April 3.

Completely owning the SEC so far, Head Coach Tim Corbin has once again proved why he’s the best coach in the country as he continues to run the best program in the country. Players like Chris Maldonado, RJ Schreck, Parker Noland and Enrique Bradfield Jr. have been key to the Commodores explosive offense. Vandy scored 55 runs on Mississippi State last weekend, scoring 26 of them in the opener, which was only a seven inning game. Noland went off, scoring 11 RBI’s off five hits, including two home runs.

Freshman Chris Maldonado, brother of senior Vandy pitcher Nick Maldonado, has really found his grove, getting a combined 10 hits in the Georgia and Mississippi State series’. In 68 at-bats, Maldonado is batting .382 and sports an on-base-percentage of .456. His ceiling is extremely high in this season, let alone for the future. Maldonado has offered some solid work at the plate as a designated hitter which balances out the top half and bottom half of Vandy’s lineup.

Bradfield Jr. continues to be one of the best base-runners in all of college baseball. After stealing 46 bases on 46 attempts last season, Bradfield has stolen 20 so far in 2023 and is on pace to steal at least 40 bags. Now a junior, he has become one of the backbones and leaders for Vanderbilt starting in all 28 games this season and being an absolute rock on defense. He currently sports a perfect fielding percentage with 75 putouts. He is the guy that Corbin can rely on to get the job done.

As the season gets deeper and Vandy takes on the likes of Tennessee, South Carolina and Arkansas, the team will lean on the leadership and experience of guys like Bradfield. Two other players that have quickly found themselves in similar roles are sophomores Devin Futrell and Carter Holton, who’ve both been great for the ‘Dores on the mound this season.

Futrell was just named SEC Pitcher of the Week after throwing eight shutout innings in Sunday’s win over Georgia. He struck out seven and didn’t allow a walk while holding the Bulldogs to only three hits. In seven appearances, six of which he started, Futrell sports a .270 ERA with 27 strikeouts with a 63 strike percentage.

Hotlon leads the team with the best ERA among qualified pitchers at .259 in six games started. He has only given up nine runs while only striking out 32 batters. Holton has been on fire the past few weeks, picking up fours wins in each of his last four starts, giving up just eight runs in 24 innings pitched. Both him and Futrell will be key for Vanderbilt’s success toward the end of the season into tournament play.

The Commodores are extremely talented and have a great mix of veterans and up-and-comers as well as some promising freshmen. But their biggest tests have yet to come, as they will face No. 6 South Carolina the weekend of April 14-16, followed by No. 11 Tennessee and No. 10 Kentucky in consecutive series. Vanderbilt will finish their final seven games at No. 3 Florida, a single match against MTSU before hosting No. 5 Arkansas in the final series of the regular season.

April and May will be a boot camp for Vandy’s young players, and for the veterans, who want to solidify themselves as top SEC ball players before the SEC Tournament and NCAA regionals. This is a College World Series caliber team at the moment, and they can further prove that to the rest of the country if they can continue to pick up wins, especially against the best teams in DI baseball.

Steven Boero
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