Coach Tim Corbin enters his 19th season as head coach of Vanderbilt Baseball where he has achieved extraordinary success as the head man.
Corbin has taken his teams to 15 NCAA Tournaments in his 17 seasons with his only 2 misses being his first season in 2003 and his 3rd season in 2005. Last season, 2020, was cancelled after 18 games due to COVID. It was a season in which the Commodores were 13-5 and gaining momentum for another run to Omaha, but was unfortunately cut short by the pandemic.
Before 2020, Corbin had taken his team to 14 consecutive NCAA Tournaments from 2006-2019, including 14 regionals, 8 Super Regionals, 4 College World Series appearances in 2011, 2014, 2015, and 2019, and 2 of his teams won it all in 2014 and 2019. His 2019 team, led by seniors Ethan Paul, Stephen Scott and others, finished 59-12 and 23-7 in the SEC, winning the SEC regular season title, the SEC Tournament Championship, which it had also done in 2007 with David Price and company, won the Regional, the Super Regional and the College World Series by defeating Michigan in 3 games. Vanderbilt Baseball is the Gold Standard of College Baseball. Corbin has had 16 of his players drafted in the first round of the Major League Draft, with two of them, Price in 2007, and shortstop Dansby Swanson, in 2015, selected as the first overall picks by the Tampa Bay Rays and the Arizona Diamondbacks, respectively. Both have and are excelling at the Major League level, Price, who won the World Series in an epic pitching performance for the Red Sox in 2018, and now with the LA Dodgers, and Swanson excelling with the Atlanta Braves. There are currently 12 players from Vanderbilt playing in the Majors. There are 4 San Francisco Giants, Mike “Yaz” Yastrzemski, Curt Casali, Tyler Beede and Sam Selmon, which had Corbin telling me, “They ought to be called the San Francisco Commodores.” There are 30 to 40 former Commodores in professional baseball including the majors and in the minor leagues. Also, there are executives and coaches in Major League baseball along with former Corbin assistants as head coaches of major college programs.
It’s astounding stuff.
And we have 2 starting pitchers this season who are projected by D-1 Baseball, the premier college baseball website, to be selected No.1 and No.2 in the Major League Draft this June. That would be the great junior Kumar Rocker and sophomore Jack Leiter.
Going back to 2019, Rocker helped take his team on his considerable shoulders in the postseason. After losing game 1 to Duke in the Super Regional in Nashville, and getting shellacked at that, Kumar put on a pitching performance for the ages in game 2, throwing a complete game, no hitter, in which he walked 2 and struck out 19. He threw 131 pitches, and was exhausted but exhilarated after his masterful performance. We defeated Duke the next day to advance to Omaha. At Omaha, Kumar pitched 6 innings of 1 hit ball, walking 1 and striking out 6 in our 6-3 victory over Mississippi State allowing us to keep advancing at TD Ameritrade Park. And, after losing game 1 in the National Championship best 2 out of 3 series to Michigan, Kumar hoisted his team on his shoulders once again in game 2, pitching 6.1 innings, giving up only 3 hits, 1 earned run with 2 walks and 11 K’s in a 4-1 Commodores victory. We won it all in game 3. Jack was a guy, like Kumar, who eschewed the Major Leagues out of high school as a high draft pick, to come to Vanderbilt, get an elite education, and enhance his skills. Leiter went 2-0 last season in 3 starts with a 1.72 ERA with 8 walks and 22 strikeouts. Kumar was 2-1 with a 1.80 ERA with 8 walks and 28 K’s.
The 2021 season starts today with a doubleheader versus Wright State with first pitch for game 1 at 12 PM with Kumar on the hill. Game 2 is set for 30 minutes after the conclusion of game 1.
Our outfield looks sharp with Cooper Davis, who hit .348 last season, the great Isaiah Thomas, who is ready to break out and hit 4 homers and 13 RBIs last season, and stellar freshman Enrique Bradfield Jr. Jayson Gonzales, a senior who has battled injuries, but who is loaded with talent, will man 3rd, while the slick fielding, excellent hitting and speedy Carter Young will play short. Tate Kolwyck, whom Corbs is very high on, will play second, and Dominic Keegan is the leader to play first. The talented C.J. Rodriguez, who hit .289 last season and plays stellar behind the dish, will start at catcher. Another starting pitching candidate is Ethan Smith, who went 3-0 last season with a 1.42 ERA with 9 walks and 23 K’s. Kumar is throwing mid 90’s on his fastball and can get it up to 96-97. Jack and Ethan are around 93-94. Kumar’s slider is still sensational. Looking forward to watching our stud mix his heat with his slider. Sam Hlibioki is a stellar middle reliever as a sophomore. Hliboki had an 0.00 ERA in 5 appearances last season with 2 walks and 16 K’s. He’s got a spectacular potential season ahead of him. Hugh Fisher, one of our seniors, is back after an arm injury kept him out of last season. Hugh could very well be our closer. He throws 94-95, and if his control is on, he can dominate. Hugh, as a closer, will be critical to this team’s success. Thomas Schultz is another big bullpen arm. Schultz had an 0.66 ERA in 4 games and 13.2 innings, with 3 walks and 17 K’s. Michael Doolin posted an 0.87 ERA in 10.1 innings with 4 walks and 18 K’s. Nick Maldanado is another. Nick posted a 2.70 ERA with 1 walk and 6 K’s. And there is more depth with some returners and the No.2 recruiting class in the country. The only reason we weren’t No.1 is that 2 of our top prospects were selected in the first round of the 2020 draft along with the great Austin Martin, who was selected 5th by the Toronto Blue Jays. Florida was rated first, but that has a disclaimer with our 2 stellar commits going in the 2020 first round.
Our 2022 recruiting class is now rated No.1 by Perfect Game.
We were ranked No.4 by D-1 Baseball preseason rankings behind Florida, UCLA and Texas Tech. Florida already has a 1-2 record. We were ranked No.3 by National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association, NCBWA, behind Florida and UCLA. And we were ranked 3rd in the USA Today Coaches Poll behind Florida and UCLA. In the polls, Ole Miss was ranked 6th, Mississippi State 7th, Arkansas 8th, LSU 12th, South Carolina 18th, Tennessee 19th, Auburn 23rd and Alabama 25th. So the competition is once again fierce in the Southeastern Conference.
But our team is stellar and has the makings for another deep Omaha run and has a shot at winning it all.
We’ll play Wright State twice today at home, then Western Kentucky comes to the Hawk Wednesday for a 4:30 PM CT contest. Friday through Sunday we’ll host Georgia State. Friday’s game is at 4;30 PM CT. Saturday will be a twinbill with first pitch of game 1 at 1 PM CT. Game 2 will commence 30 minutes after completion of game 1. And Sunday’s first pitch will be at 1 PM CT. All 7 games will be broadcast by SEC Network+ on your computer, phone, Ipad or Smart TV.
We have 11 games scheduled on the ESPN family of networks. We’ll start with the second game of the South Carolina series at the Hawk on Saturday, March 20th at 2 PM CT on the SEC Network. Then we’ll be @ Missouri Thursday, March 25th on the SEC Network, with game time to be announced. Then on Thursday, April 8th, we’ll play Georgia at home with a 6:30 PM CT start on the SEC Network. We’ll be on ESPNU on Friday April 2nd at 7 PM CT @ LSU. The final 2 games of the Tennessee series, Saturday-Sunday, April 17th and 18th, will be televised. The SEC Network will broadcast the Saturday game at 6 PM CT, and ESPNU will televise the season finale at 1 PM CT on Sunday.
The first 2 games of the Mississippi State series at home, Friday Night and Saturday, April 23rd and 24th, will be broadcast by ESPNU and ESPN respectively. Friday Night’s 6:30 CT game will be telecast by the U, and Saturday’s 2 PM CT game will be broadcast by ESPN2.
The Friday Night game @ Florida on April 30th at 5:30 CT, will be telecast by ESPNU, while the Sunday, May 2nd game, with first pitch at 12 PM CT, will be featured on ESPN2.
Vanderbilt’s final SEC TV regular season appearance will be @ Ole Miss on Friday, May 14th at 6:30 PM CT on the SEC Network.
Additional “wild card” games in the final weekend of conference play, when we play Kentucky at home, will be determined at a later date. We do play Louisville, which has a preseason ranking of No.5, at home Tuesday, May 4th at 6 PM CT, and there should be television for that game as well. Will keep you posted on that.
So another superior baseball season in store for the Commodore Nation. VU Sports Confidential will give you complete coverage throughout what should be another magical season on the West End.