By Ron Wynn
NASHVILLE, TN — The Vanderbilt Commodores are hoping that postseason play will help bolster a season that began great, but then had lots of rough stretches, particularly in SEC play. Vanderbilt finished the regular season at 35-20, and only a 12-4 victory in the finale at Kentucky gave them the requisite 13 conference wins many observers feel were essential in getting an NCAA Tournament bid. They won’t know until the weekend if their streak of appearances will increase to 18, but they did know where they would be to start the SEC Tournament portion of the postseason.
The Commodores opened Tuesday against Florida, a team that also posted a 13-17 league record. They were seeded eighth going into the SEC Tournament. If they won that game they would then face the top-ranked Tennessee Volunteers on Wednesday. Tennessee and Kentucky both finished 22-8 in the SEC, but Tennessee had the tie-breaker and got the top seed in the SEC Tournament.
Vanderbilt knows it’s got to get better pitching if they have any hopes of postseason glory. In the second half of the SEC season both the starters and relievers were hit hard in most of their series. Vanderbilt won only two of its final 11 SEC games, though their overall outstanding record in non-conference and neutral site games helped keep their RPI at a very respectable 25. They also won the season series over both Florida and LSU, the defending national champion and another team on the NCAA Tournament bubble.
If Vanderbilt survived the first game, which was an elimination match, then they would move into the double elimination format segment. Head coach Tim Corbin certainly hopes that the offensive firepower demonstrated in the Kentucky series continues into the postseason. Over their final three games, the Commodores had 37 hits, 14 of them for extra bases. Matthew Polk had seven hits in the series, Jonathan Vastine six, while RJ Austin five and Calvin Hewett four. They will need that kind of production in both SEC and NCAA Tournament games.
The SEC Tournament in Hoover continues through May 26.
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