Our Vanderbilt Men’s Basketball team posted an electric 66-65 victory over Michigan this past Saturday before 8,337 fans at Memorial Coliseum in Nashville, and now move on to the quarterfinals of the NIT where we will face UAB at home on Wednesday at 6 PM CT on ESPN2.
Tyrin Lawrence has been a basketball scoring machine lately and added to that with 24 points and 9 boards against the Wolverines. Ezra Manjon added 17 points and 3 assists and did so much in the last minute when we were down 65-59, and somehow, we “magically”, as Memorial does, came back and won that basketball game. Colin Smith added 11, all in the first half, going 3 for 7 from trifecta. Jordan Wright finished with 6 points and 3 boards, but played tenacious defense on Michigan stud seven foot center Hunter Dickinson in the second half. Dickinson was a load in the paint, but Jordan gave him some fits when he started guarding him.Stack put on a press in the last minute and it worked to perfection. After two Manjon free throws to cut the lead to 65-61, we got a steal and an and one from Manjon to cut the lead to 65-64. Another steal led to a Lawrence driving lay-up to the left of the basket that was blocked, but was goal tending and put us ahead 66-65. We had to really hold our breath at the end as Dickinson had a follow up tip on a missed shot that barley missed the mark, and we emerged with what looked like an improbable victory with a minute left in the game.
We moved to 22-14 on the season and now face a UAB team that is coming off 77-59 victory over Morehead State at Barrow Arena in Birmingham on Sunday. Guard Ty Brewer finished with 25 for them. Guard Eric Gaines added 11, and 6’11”, 260 pound center Trey Jamison finished with 11 points and 16 boards. They are now 27-9.
They are led by shooting guard Jordan Walker, who averages 22.6 points per game. Gaines adds 11.6 and KJ Buffen, a 6’8” 230 pound senior forward, averages 10.8. Jemison averages 9.1 and pulls down 8.4 boards per game. They average 81 points per game and average 40 rebounds per game. They shoot 45% from the field, 36% from trifecta and 73 percent from the line. Walker is a 39%, 3 point shooter.
But, we’ve got a big four now as Colin has stepped into the role as our fourth star. Tyrin is averaging 13.2 per game, Jordan is at 10.5, and Ezra is at 10.3. Colin is averaging 5 points per game, but he’s stepping it up more and more each game, particularly this postseason. We need to hit the boards hard tomorrow night, and Quinton Millora-Brown will have to step up his defense on Jemison. We are shooting 43% from the field, 34% from triple, and 72% from the stripe. We average 36 boards per game and are scoring 72 points per contest.
Everybody needs to contribute Wednesday. We need help from Paul Lewis, Trey Thomas, Lee Dort and Malik Dia, but our stars are going to have to shine. I like them to do that.
On the Vandy Sports.com message board today, many of the boarders were saying how great UAB is, and how we could be in trouble tomorrow night. Then Brain13 joined in and said, “I ain’t scared.”
That’s who we are. We respect our opposition, but we do NOT fear them. Let’s get the job done tomorrow night. It’ll be a challenge, but so was Tennessee at home, Arkansas at home, Kentucky on the road and at Bridgestone Arena, with a sea of Blue in the crowd, Auburn at home, and Pitt at home. All of these teams were in the NCAA tournament. Tennessee and Arkansas are in the Sweet 16. And all of those games were victories. We’ve got it in us. Let’s prove to the country how good we are. Let’s pack out Memorial, too. This team deserves it. Will have a recap some time after the game.
Baseball sweeps Ole Miss, the week ahead starting tonight
Our Vandy Boys took all 3 games over defending champion Ole Miss over the weekend at the Hawk, in a Thursday through Saturday series. I kind of like the Thursday-Saturday format. Gives the guys an extra day to recover and get ready for the upcoming week.
We moved to 16-5 overall and 3-0 in the SEC and are now ranked No.4 by D1 Baseball.com and No.5 by Baseball America. Like the way we’re trending in all 3 facets of the game.
Thursday, we were 12-2 winners in 8 innings as the 10 run rule was invoked. RJ Schreck, who is on fire right now and hitting like we thought he would, went 2 for 5 with his fourth homer of the season and 3 Ribeyes. Chris Maldonado, our freshman younger brother of senior lockdown closer Nick, is on fire right now as well. He’s an awesome addition to the team. Maldonado was 3 for 5 with his 2nd homer of the season and a Ribeye. Our great sophomore, Matthew Polk, was 3 for 4 with his third homer of the season and 3 Ribbies. Our great senior first baseman, Parker Noland, was 2 for 5 with his 2nd homer of the year and 3 RBI’s. Carter Holton had a tremendous start for us. Our sophomore lefty went 6, gave up 6 hits, 2 runs with 0 walks and 5 K’s. One of our other super sophs, Bryce Cunningham, from Headland, Alabama,( as you remember a 35 minute drive from my wife’s hometown of Enterprise-she would make it in “Drop and give me 20!”). Bryce went 2, gave up 1 hit, no runs with a walk and a K. So, an excellent night for the team.
Friday, we were just as good, if not better. Our superb junior lefty, Hunter Owen, threw a gem. Hunter threw a complete game, 2 hit shutout with 1 walk and 11 K’s. It was a dominant performance by Owen. Our junior catcher Jack Bolger finished with 2 hits, and 2 Ribbies. Another one of our sensational freshmen, second baseman RJ Austin, hit a 3 run shot, and had 4 RBIs. Our superb junior centerfielder, Enrique Bradfield, posted 3 hits and two stolen bases and scored twice. Schreck got into the act again with 2 hits and his 5th homer of the season. Maldonado finished with 2 hits. The main stories were the pitching of Owen and our hitting, which has broken out.
On Saturday, we swept the Rebels with a 7-2 victory. Our super sophomore lefty, Devin Futrell, went 5, gave up 3 hits, with 2 earned with 0 walks and 2 K’s. Nice job by Devin. Sam Hlibioki is back to his stellar form from 2020. Our great senior went 2, gave up a hit, 0 runs with 0 walks and 3 K’s. If Sam can pitch like that, that’s a big lift to our bullpen. And older brother Nick Maldonado finished it off with 2 innings of no hit ball. He did walk 2, but finished it off as shortstop Jonathan Vastine made a nice grab on a line drive and dove back to the second base bag and tagged it to end the game on a double play, doubling off the Ole Miss runner who was between second and third on the liner.
So, a superior effort by the team over last year’s national champion. One other thing: the defense was superb. We only committed one error all weekend. Polk made a superb diving catch in left central from his left field position. It was beautiful. And Austin made an amazing catch on a line drive that looked like it was headed for the right central field gap. RJ, with his superb athletic ability, leapt and snagged the ball out of the air. Looked like a 36 inch vertical. Was spectacular. We turned three double plays as well.
Like what I’m seeing out of this group. We have settled in and worked out the early season kinks and are playing outstanding baseball now.
Schrek is hitting .329 with 5 homers and 17 RBIs. The Duke senior transfer is living up to the high expectations Corbs had for him when he came into the program in the fall. He’s an awesome baseball player, and has super speed and plays a strong right field. Polk is hitting .319 with 3 homers and 15 RBIs. Vastine is so solid. Our shortstop is hitting .278 with 3 homers and 13 Ribbies. Austin is hitting .276 with 3 long ones and 17 Ribeyes. Our awesome junior, Jack Bulger, is hitting .273 with 2 long ones and 12 RBIs. Jack had a huge two run homer on Saturday that put us ahead 3-2 in the bottom of the 4th after a slow start with the bats. We are now hitting .267 as a team, which is much better from even a week ago. Hitting coach Mike Baxter had the bats cookin over the weekend. Like what Coach Baxter has done to get our bats going. Need to keep up the good work.
Owen is 2-0 with a 2.20 ERA with 9 walks and 35 K’s. Holton is 2-0 with a 2.39 ERA with 7 walks and 30 K’s. Futrell is 4-1 with a 3.05 ERA, with 8 walks and 18 K’s. Cunningham has an 0.00 ERA with 3 walks and 19 K’s. Always feel good when Bryce is in the game and we have a lead. Hliboki’s ERA is a little higher at 5.14, but he’s been excellent lately. He’s walked 3 and K’d 22. And our awesome senior, Maldonado, has 3 saves on the season, an 0.00 ERA with 4 walks and 16 K’s. Need some other guys in the bullpen to get better and need a mid-week starter to step up, so those are things we need to work out going forward starting tonight versus Lipscomb. Coach Scott Brown is doing a terrific job with the staff. Just need some other arms to help to step up to help us excel this season.
Chris Maldonado is hitting .356 with 2 homers and 8 RBIs. Love what I’m seeing from little brother.
We’re now fielding at a .979 clip, which is so much better than it was earlier this season. Corbs moved Davis Diaz to third and Davis has found a good position for himself. Davis is a good hitter. Only hitting .250 now, but that’s expected to improve markedly over the next couple of weeks. Davis should be stellar with the stick and in the field. Vastine looks like an SEC shortstop. He’s such a slick fielder. And Austin looks to have found a home at second base. Jack looks solid behind the dish, and our outfield, left to right, of Polk, Bradfield and Schreck is terrific. Enrique is only hitting .247, but he had a really good weekend and it’s just a matter of time before Bradfield starts hitting .300+. He is also 15 of 19 on stolen bases. They are keying on him when he gets on base since he was 46 for 46 last year. But Bradfield will steal many more bags this season. We can count on that. Calvin Hewitt is 6 for 6 in the stolen base department. And even though Polk has overtaken him in left field, Hewitt can still help us a lot going forward at the plate, in the field, he’s an excellent left fielder, and on the bases.
Lipscomb today at 6 PM at First Horizon Park in Nashville, home of the triple A Nashville Sounds, who are the affiliate for the Milwaukee Brewers. Lipscomb is 7-13. This will be the second game in the All 4 Low Showdown with all the proceeds going to the ALS Foundation to help find a cure for this challenging disease. Super cause supported by Corbs and the team.The game will be broadcast by SEC Network+_.
Then, we’ll play Mississippi State this weekend. More on State later in the week.
Men’s Golf
Our golf team is aiming for their fifth victory in a row after a stellar season so far,. But we are having trouble at the Linger Longer Invitational at the Great Waters Course, a Jack Nicklaus Course, at Reynolds Plantation in Georgia. We are presently one over par and in fourth place for the tournament in this the final round. Alabama is leading at -10 and Georgia is second at -7. Georgia Tech is third at -1.We are through holes 10-13. I know Coach Limbaugh, Coach Gator Todd and the players are not totally giving up, but this is out of reach.
We’re still No.1 in the country, and have played better golf than anybody else in the nation this season. We’ll need to regroup after this, and get it together going forward. Will let you know how we end up.
So let’s get our golf team back where it should be, take care of business today at First Horizon and Wednesday at Memorial!
