Vanderbilt Baseball Wins SEC Tournament & Earns No. 6 Seed In Regionals

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Photo: Courtesy of Vanderbilt Athletics

Vanderbilt baseball won the SEC Tournament for the ninth time in program history, defeating Texas A&M 10-4 on Sunday (May 28) in Hoover, Alabama.

Vandy is the first No. 4 seed to take the title game since 2015, and has solidified themselves as a favorite to win the College Baseball World Series.

“I know you throw out there, team effort, but it really speaks to everyone who was a participant inside this tournament, whether it was statistically or whether it was spiritually inside the bunker,” said Head Coach Tim Corbin in a postgame press conference. “I’m just happy for them that they pulled it together. We played very good baseball. We played tough baseball and played when it mattered. Just glad we could get here, start here on Monday, end here today and see it through and enjoy what is America’s best conference tournament.”

Photo: Courtesy of Vanderbilt Athletics

Vandy has been hot all tournament, and they didn’t slow down at all against Texas A&M. The Aggies struck first in the second inning but the Commodores struck right back, scoring three runs with Troy LaNeve hitting a three-run home run, his third in the last five games.

“It feels good,” LaNeve said in a postgame press conference. “This whole year has been a good year. There’s so many guys on this team, it’s so easy to celebrate. Getting back on the field and being able to contribute a little bit definitely feels good but the approach has been the same the whole entire year.”

Vanderbilt took a 5-4 lead heading into the eighth inning and scored five runs on some great offense by Calvin Hewett, who hit a three RBI double, making it 10-4 and securing the championship win.

RJ Austin also earned SEC Tournament MVP going 7-for-18 with two doubles, a home run, five RBI’s and four runs in four games during the tournament. He went 2-for-3 with two runs and an RBI during the championship game against Texas A&M.

Enrique Bradfield Jr. holding the SEC Tournament trophy. Photo: Courtesy of Vanderbilt Athletics

“I said this earlier but I’m really excited,” said Austin. “It’s the most fun I’ve ever had and just being with the older guys that have been here before, just celebrating with them, seeing how happy they are, it’s just fun being here. Like I can’t explain more. It’s just so fun being here.”

The Commodores played a stellar tournament playing and eventually defeating some of college baseball’s best teams. They kicked things off by beating Auburn 6-4 in their tournament opener and then fell to Florida 6-3 in Vanderbilt’s first loss in double elimination.

In the quarterfinals, the Commodores found revenge against Alabama who took two of three earlier in the season, by beating them 9-2 behind fantastic pitching from Devin Futrell and Thomas Schultz.

In the semifinals, Vandy played Florida again after being swept in Gainesville last month and losing to them earlier in the tournament. But Vanderbilt showed up big time, scoring 10 runs in the first three innings including four in the first inning, eventually winning 11-6.

Photo: Courtesy of Vanderbilt Athletics

The Commodores took advantage of mistakes and error early on. Chris Maldonado and Parker Noland led the way with two RBI’s each.

In Monday’s NCAA Baseball Regionals Selection Show, Vandy was named the No. 6 overall seed as well as a host team. In the Nashville Regional, they will play the winner between Oregon vs. Xavier this Friday, June 2 at Hawkins Field at 2 p.m. before playing Eastern Illinois later in the day at 7 p.m.

Vanderbilt Baseball Loses To Florida, Faces Elimination Against Alabama

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Photo: Courtesy of Vanderbilt Athletics

After beating Auburn 6-4 on Wednesday night (May 24), Vanderbilt fell 6-3 to top-seeded Florida in the third round of the 2023 SEC Tournament yesterday (May 25), and will face Alabama in an elimination game tonight (May 26).

The Commodores and Gators were locked in a 2-2 tie until Florida jumped ahead with a grand slam in the seventh inning.

Enrique Bradfield Jr. roped the first pitch of the game to the wall in left and turned on the jets to reach third for a leadoff triple. Davis Diaz grounded out to bring Bradfield home and put Vandy up 1-0 in the first.

Florida loaded the bases in the bottom of the first but Hunter Owen, making his first appearance since May 5, got a strikeout to end the frame without a run coming in.

The Gators tied the game on a solo homer in the bottom of the second and pulled ahead 2-1 with a second solo shot in the home half of the fourth.

Jonathan Vastine led the top of the fifth with a single to center. Vastine moved to second and third on a pair of groundouts before Diaz picked up his second RBI with a single through the left side with two outs, tying the game at 2-2.

Florida jumped ahead with a two-out grand slam off the bat of BT Riopelle in the bottom of the seventh to take a 6-2 lead into the eighth.

Vastine pulled Vandy closer with a solo homer in the top of the eighth, his fourth home run on the season.

Vanderbilt’s elimination game against Alabama will start approximately 30 minutes after LSU and Texas A&M face off at 3 p.m. CT. Both of tonight’s elimination games will air on SEC Network.

TSU Football Vs. Notre Dame Kickoff & Air Time Announced

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Tennessee State University (TSU) football’s season opener against Notre Dame on Sept. 2 in South Bend, Indiana will kick off at  2:30 p.m. CT, and will be televised on NBC and streamed on Peacock.

Third-year Head Coach Eddie George will lead TSU as the first Historically Black College and University (HBCU) to play the Irish. The Tigers will become the first FCS school to play Notre Dame since the subdivision split.

Fans can purchase tickets for the game through the Tennessee State Athletics website or by contacting the TSU ticket office. With a capacity of over 77,000, Notre Dame Stadium is expected to be packed with fans eager to see the Tigers take on the Fighting Irish.

For fans who want to make a weekend out of the experience, travel packages are available for purchase through EB Sports. These packages include hotel accommodations, game tickets and transportation options, starting as low as $854 per person.

Tickets are expected to sell quickly, so fans are encouraged to purchase early to ensure they don’t miss out on this historic matchup.

Vanderbilt Baseball Beats Auburn In SEC Tournament

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Photo: Courtesy of Vanderbilt Athletics

Vanderbilt baseball advanced to the winner’s bracket at the 2023 SEC Tournament with a 6-4 win over Auburn at the Hoover Met yesterday (May 24).

 Patrick Reilly and Sam Hliboki each turned in strong performances on the mound and Davis Diaz went 2-for-3 with a pair of runs and a pair of RBIs.

Hliboki got the start and tossed four innings, allowing two runs on three hits. Reilly handled the final five frames for Vanderbilt and held Auburn to two runs on two hits while striking out eight to earn the win.

Auburn struck first with a solo homer in the top of the first by Cole Foster. But Vandy tied the game at 1-1 in the bottom of the first as Enrique Bradfield Jr. showed how irreplaceable he is. Bradfield worked a leadoff walk and then stole second and third on consecutive pitches. Diaz singled to the second basemen to score Bradfield.

The inning continued as RJ Schreck earned a walk and Parker Noland moved Diaz and Schreck up 90 feet on a groundout. Jack Bulger put the Dores in front 2-1 on a sac fly to bring Diaz home from third.

Auburn hit a second solo homer in the top of the third to even the score but struck back in the bottom of the sixth, scoring on a fielder’s choice with the bases loaded. 

Bradfield helped manufacture another run in the bottom of the seventh to double the lead. Bradfield reached on an error and advanced to second. He then took third on a wild pitch before scoring on an RBI single by Diaz.

Vanderbilt loaded the bases again in the bottom of the eighth. Noland and Bulger each walked to get the inning going. After an Auburn pitching change, Troy LaNeve singled through the right side to load the bases. With one out, Jonathan Vastine delivered an RBI single to score Noland. Calvin Hewett brought home a second run with a sac fly to the left, giving Vanderbilt a 6-2 lead.

Auburn halved the deficit with a two-run homer in the top of the ninth, but Reilly got a strikeout looking to end the game.

Vanderbilt is currently seeded No. 4, and will face No. 1 seeded Florida at 8 p.m. tonight (May 25) on SEC Network.

Vanderbilt’s Gordon Sargent Named Haskins Award Finalist

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Gordon Sargent. Photo: Courtesy of Vanderbilt Athletics

Vanderbilt golf superstar Gordon Sargent has been named a finalist for the Haskins Award Watch List by the Haskins Foundation. The Haskins Award honors an outstanding college golfer each year in memory of Fred Haskins, a club professional that spent his life nurturing and mentoring amateur golfers.

Sargent, the reigning NCAA National Champion and all-time leader in career wins with five at Vandy, competed at the Masters Tournament in April and won individual titles at the East Lake Cup, John Hayt Invitational and Mason Rudolph Championship this season. He most recently tied for seventh at the Auburn Regional.

Atop both the Golfstat Individual Rankings and the Golfweek/Sagarin Rankings, Sargent is listed second in the World Amateur Golf Rankings and third by Golfweek/AmateurGolf.com. A member of the U.S. Palmer Cup team, his amateur highlights also include advancing to match play at the U.S. Amateur, placing fourth at the Northeast Amateur, tying for sixth at the Jones Cup Invitational, sharing 17th at the Western Amateur and being one of seven amateurs to compete at the 2023 Masters.

Sargent has placed in the top 10 in all 11 tournaments he’s competed in this season, including eight top-fives, and carries a 68.1 stroke average. He finished first in the 2023 Arnold Palmer Cup standings, and will compete for the United States again this summer.

The other finalists alongside Sargent include Ludvig Aberg (Texas Tech), Adrien Dumont de Chassart (Illinois), David Ford (North Carolina), Benjamin James (Virginia), Tommy Kuhl (Illinois), Christian Lamprecht (Georgia Tech), Maxwell Moldovan (Ohio State), Preston Summerhays (Arizona State) and Michael Thorbjornsen (Stanford).

Voting for the 2023 Haskins Award opened on Monday (May 22), and will remain open until the completion of the stroke play portion of the NCAA Championships on Monday, May 29.

Vanderbilt Baseball Wins Series Over No. 2 Arkansas, Securing Bye In SEC Tournament

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Nick Maldonado. Photo: Courtesy of Vanderbilt Athletics

After a tough few weeks, which included getting swept by Florida, Vanderbilt baseball put on an amazing performance against No. 2 Arkansas, winning two of the three-game series to finish the regular season.

The series win over the powerhouse, not only gives Vandy a No. 4 seed in the SEC Baseball Tournament but a huge morale boost as well as momentum going into the postseason.

They dropped the first game of the series 8-2, which seemed to a preview of what Arkansas was going to unleash on the already wounded Commodores. However, Vanderbilt rallied and showed life and resilience by scoring eight runs in the eighth inning, giving them a massive 10-8 victory.

It started with a flyout by Enrique Bradfield Jr., which scored a run, and then working the pitcher, forcing him to go longer into at-bats until he eventually loaded the bases and hit RJ Shreck with a pitch, forcing a run in, making it 8-4.

Another walk scored the fifth run until Jack Bulger stepped up to the plate and hit a two RBI single cutting the Razorbacks lead to 8-7. Then Troy LaNeve, who had less than 20 at-bats all season, hit a three-run home run to give Vandy the lead and the eventual win.

Troy LaNeve. Photo: Courtesy of Vanderbilt Athletics

In Game Three, LaNeve showed up once again, hitting another three-run home run in the second inning giving the Commodores a 3-2 lead.

From there it went back-and-forth, as the teams tied and Arkansas retook the lead in the fifth inning 6-4. A few blunders by Arkansas and some great base running led to Vandy taking, and holding on to, the lead. Bradfield stole both second and third, and another balk brought him home as they took a 7-6 lead. He now ranks third in SEC history with 127 career stolen bases.

Ryan Ginther earned the start and turned in four strong innings to match his career high. Ginther didn’t allow an earned run and struck out five batters. David Horn threw 2.1 scoreless innings and Nick Maldonado closed the door for his eighth save of the season.

The Commodores finish the regular season with a record of 37-17 and a conference record of 19-11. Notably, they had a record of 25-6 when playing at Hawkins Field.

Vanderbilt will be the No. 4 seed at next week’s SEC Tournament in Hoover, Alabama, where they will play in the fourth game on Wednesday, May 31 and face the winner of the No. 5 seed vs. No. 12 seed matchup.

TSU Men’s Basketball Elevates Jerry Nichols To Associate Head Coach

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Jerry Nichols. Photo: Courtesy of Tennessee State Athletics

Tennessee State University (TSU) men’s basketball Head Coach Brian “Penny” Collins has elevated Jerry Nichols to Associate Head Coach for the upcoming 2023-2024 season.

Entering his sixth season on the TSU sidelines, Nichols has been a mainstay alongside Collins since his hiring in 2018. No stranger as a head coach, Nichols compiled a 200-59 record in nine seasons at the junior college level.

Prior to working with Collins, the two battled as opposing coaches in Region Seven of the Tennessee Community College Athletic Association. Collins was the Head Coach of Columbia State at the time.

A native of Memphis, Nichols won five TCCAA Coach of the Year honors. He got his first head coaching role at Motlow State (2009-2013), and moved to Southwest Tennessee from 2013-2018 until his appointment at TSU.

At Southwest Tennessee, Nichols picking up three TCCAA Coach of the Year awards and won 120 games in five highly-successful seasons. Nichols’ Saluqis finished 18th or better in the final NJCAA Division I polls in four of his five seasons. Southwest finished 11th twice, including the 2015-2016 season, when the Saluqis went 30-5 and earned a berth in the NJCAA Elite Eight.

Nichols won his first two TCCAA Coach of the Year awards at Motlow State, where he went 80-31 serving as the Head Coach and Athletics Director. His best season with the Bucks came in 2012-2013, when his team won the TCCAA Championship and earned a berth in the NJCAA National Tournament. Motlow State finished 13th in the final NJCAA Division I poll in 2013.

Nichols began his coaching career as an assistant coach at Walters State Community College during the 2006-2007 season before heading to Union College in Kentucky for the 2007-2008 and 2008-2009 seasons.

He has been a USA Basketball contributor through the years and served as a coach for the USA Basketball Under 18 Junior National Team in 2016 at the FIBA Americas U18 Championships in Valdivia, Chile which featured eight national teams from North, South and Central America and the Caribbean.

As a player, Nichols starred for Westwood High School in Memphis, and went on to become a two-time All-American guard at Walters State Community College. The two-time TCCAA Player of the Year ranked ninth in the nation, scoring 21.6 points per game as a sophomore. He continued his education and playing career at Arkansas State, where he led the team in three-point shooting and was deemed their top defensive player his junior season. Nichols also received ASU’s Leadership Award as a senior.

Nichols graduated from Arkansas State in 2006 and earned his graduate degree from Union College in 2009.

Vanderbilt Men’s Basketball To Play In Las Vegas Tournament, Season Tickets On Sale

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Photo: Courtesy of Vanderbilt Athletics

Though basketball season is a ways away, fans still have reason to get excited as the Vanderbilt men’s basketball team will take part in the inaugural Vegas Showdown, and men’s and women’s basketball season tickets are now on sale.

As part of the Vegas Showdown, the Commodores will compete on Nov. 23 and 24 at Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino’s Michelob Ultra Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. The two-day tournament’s field includes Vanderbilt, Arizona State, BYU and NC State.

Vanderbilt won 22 games last season and earned a bid to the NIT. The Commodores have had success in ESPN’s non-conference tournaments over the last two seasons, going 2-0 at the 2021 Diamond Head Classic in Hawaii with wins over BYU and Hawaii, and 1-1 in the 2022 Wooden Legacy with a win over Fresno State.

Matchups for the 2023 Vegas Showdown will be announced at a later date.

Existing season ticket holders have until June 28 to renew their tickets for both programs in order to secure their same seats for the 2023-2024 campaign as well as participate in the seat upgrade process the following month. After the deadline, seats will be released from non-renewed accounts, giving other season ticket holders access before the general public.

Prices begin at just $200 for men’s basketball season tickets, with parking available in the 25th Avenue Garage for $100. Women’s basketball prices start at $50 for the season, while parking passes are available for $50 in Kensington Garage.

Individuals renewing prior to the deadline will ensure their participation in the seat upgrade process the week of July 24. More information will be sent via email to those fans as the deadline approaches.

Commodores supporters interested in purchasing basketball season tickets may contact the ticket office at ticket.office@vanderbilt.edu or 615.322.4653. Fans can also visit the ticket office in person at the McGugin Center, open Monday-Friday from 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m. CT.