In what was undoubtedly the Vandyboys’ best weekend since 2021, Vanderbilt swept the number 5 Georgia Bulldogs by scores of 3-1, 13-7, and 5-2.

Vanderbilt’s pitching prowess reigned supreme this weekend, highlighted by JD Thompson’s 8 inning, 1 run, 5 hit, and 14 (!!!) strikeout outing. Beyond Thompson, Connor Fennell pitched 5.2 innings while only allowing 2 runs and striking out 11, Sawyer Hawks made 2 appearances that combined for 3 innings of scoreless ball, and Miller Green had a nice bounce back appearance that resulted in 2.1 innings with no runs.

Offensively, Vanderbilt was led by standout performances by Riley Nelson, Braden Holcomb, and Brodie Johnston. Nelson went 7-11 with a home run, triple, and 3 RBIs; Holcomb was also 7-11 with a home run and 4 RBIs; and Johnston went 4-12 with 3 home runs and 8 RBIs. Rustan Rigdon also deserves a shoutout for drawing 4 BBs over the weekend and having an OBP of .571.

Thursday night’s game was one of the best pitcher duels you’ll see all year, as both Georgia’s Brian Curley and JD Thompson had arguably their best outings of the season. Thompson started poorly as he gave up a solo home run on the 3rd pitch of the game but was lights out after that. He would not allow another run in the remaining 8.0 innings he faced against the best offense in the country. Curley also gave up a triple to Nelson in the first inning but was nails afterwards. It was a 1-0 game until the 7th inning where some magic struck for the ‘Dores. Brodie Johnston, who has been hitting the freshman wall recently, went first pitch swinging and blasted a 420+ foot nuke to left field, tying the game and energizing the whole stadium. Rustan Rigdon singled on the next pitch, Braden Holcomb was plunked on the elbow, and Colin Barczi hit a swinging-bunt single that scored Rigdon. Holcomb was out at 3rd on a controversial play (and this did cost the ‘Dores a run as Jacob Humphrey doubled on the next AB), but the damage was already done as Vandy took a 2-1 lead. Thompson pitched a 1-2-3 8th inning and Vandy added another insurance run as Nelson singled, Johnston reached on a FC, Rigdon walked, and then Holcomb drove in Johnston with a single up the middle. Sawyer Hawks would come in and shut down Georgia in the 9th as the Dawgs were held to their lowest run total of the year.

Friday’s game could not have been more different than Thursdays, as it became a shootout very quickly. After 1-2-3 first innings by both teams, Vandy opened the scoring in the 2nd behind a Braden Holcomb single followed by a Colin Barczi home run to jump out 2-0. In the 3rd, a Vastine single and Nelson walk put men on for Brodie Johnston and a 3 run home run drove them all in as Vandy took a 5-0 lead. A long delay would then occur as a light pole went out and kept the game on hold for upwards of 45 minutes. When Cody Bowker came out again he clearly had lost some of his control and started to give up extra base hits. A double followed by a walk and home run narrowed the Vandy lead to 2 runs. Levi Huesman and Alex Kranzler would get Vandy out of the 4th with no more damage done. Vanderbilt would reopen the lead a bit in the 5th with a Nelson walk followed by a Johnston double and Holcomb single as the score went to 7-3. The 6th is where the real fireworks would come, though. Walks by Mancini and Vastine put men on for Riley Nelson who doubled and scored 1, but Johnston then brought them all home with his second 3 run home run of the day, stretching the lead to 11-3. Rustan Rigdon then drew a walk and a Braden Holcomb home run to straightaway CF would cap off the 6 run 6th inning that Vandy would end leading 13-3. Georgia scored 4 in the 7th thanks to 2 doubles, a single, and a home run but it was too little too late. Miller Green would come in to close the game and did so effectively, preventing Georgia from getting another hit the rest of the game.

Saturday’s game was a nice in-between after the pitchers duel and subsequent offensive explosion. Both Georgia and Vandy were pitching well as it was a 0-0 game heading to the 4th before Robbie Burnett’s 17th home run of the year made it a 1-0 game. Vandy would respond in the 4th, though, as back-to-back singles by Holcomb and Rigdon put men on the corners with no outs. Vastine would get Rigdon home on a FC but Vandy was not able to capitalize beyond that. In the 5th, however, Mac Rose drew a leadoff walk and Riley Nelson would hit a 2-out oppo home run to give Vandy their first lead of the day. In the 6th another solo shot from Slate Alford made it a 3-2 game, but the Vandyboys would respond once again. In the bottom of the 7th Humphrey would be hit by a pitch and Mike Mancini would drive him home with a single to right field. Riley Nelson would then single to right-center field and Mancini would advance to 3rd. Him and Brodie Johnston executed a safety squeeze to perfection as Vandy took a 5-2 lead. Sawyer Hawks would come in during the 8th and get 2 quick outs before back-to-back singles made things a bit precarious. Rustan Rigdon would make an amazing play, though, as he got the 2nd single back in quickly enough to get the Georgia runner at 3rd base and end the threat. In the 9th Hawks would go 1-2-3 and get his 2nd save of the weekend.

It was no secret that this Georgia team is one of the best offensive units in college baseball history as they had scored over 360 runs, hit 100 home runs, and were averaging just shy of 10 runs per game in 38 games played this season. Despite that, Vanderbilt held them to just 5 homers and 10 runs total on the weekend. Vandy pitchers also struck out 40 of the 81 batters they faced this weekend, a ridiculous statistic. Both the players and the staff deserve all the credit in the world for putting together such an outstanding weekend and getting results regardless of how high of a draft prospect one is or an expert’s assessments of the “stuff” on the roster. He has been criticized by many over the last few years, but what Scott Brown has done with this pitching staff this year is genuinely one of the most impressive coaching jobs I have ever seen. Tip of the cap to all involved.

It’s true, in the last 5 games Vandy batters have been striking out a lot more. But on the other side of things, they have been producing more power than at any other time this season during this stretch–and good results are following. Before this 5 game stretch over the last week, Vandy had hit 29 home runs in 35 games and were averaging less than 1 homer per game. During this stretch, though, Vandy has hit 9 home runs and is averaging 1.8 homers per game (for reference, only 4 teams in the SEC are averaging above that number over the season). There has been a clear shift in the approach by the team in the last few games. No longer is it the focus of power hitters to put together a “good AB” and not strike out, they are going to the plate and swinging with the intent to send balls out of the park. And boy are they better off for it.

This Vanderbilt team is not like those of the last few years. The 2022-24 Vanderbilt teams would only have 1 or 2 guys on them with the raw power capable of hitting 10-15+ home runs on the season. This year, however, you have 4 guys who all unquestionably have that level of raw power and power hitting potential in Holcomb, Johnston, Nelson, and Barczi. None of those guys are going to benefit from that cautious, on-base centric approach that takes away their biggest and most valuable asset of hitting balls out of the park. It’s no coincidence that since this change each one of them have hit home runs with Nelson hitting 2 along with Johnston and Holcomb hitting 3. I think this is actually helping their performance as complete hitters too. If you grow up only knowing how to be a power hitter and are all of a sudden coached to hit like a speedy leadoff guy, that’s gonna throw you for a loop unless you’re a Riley Nelson level hitter. As these guys have been allowed to swing more freely, you’re seeing them gain in confidence and not overthink their plate appearances so egregiously. Sure, you might have a few more ugly strikeouts, but who cares about that when you’re hitting a ball 430 feet every other game. Big credit to Coaches King and Corbin for making this change, and another big hand to the players for embracing and thriving in it.

This sweep has Vanderbilt in an amazing position heading to the final 3rd of the SEC regular season. At 11-7 Vanderbilt likely only needs 1 more SEC win to secure their 19th straight NCAA tournament appearance and 4 or 5 wins to secure a regional hosting spot. The upcoming schedule is no longer looking quite as threatening as people originally thought, too. Tennessee is still Tennessee, and any series in Lindsey Nelson Stadium is extremely difficult to win, but the rest of the teams are on a downward trajectory after hot starts to the season. Ole Miss won 3 of their first 4 SEC series but only beat lower level teams in Florida, Kentucky, and Missouri and lost badly to Arkansas. Since then they lost a series against Tennessee at home and just dropped against a struggling South Carolina team. Alabama also started the SEC season hot but lost to a below average Miss. St. team and got thwacked by LSU. Kentucky is, simply put, a solid team that can take a game or two but not a contender in any capacity. Vanderbilt absolutely has the capability to win these 3 series (they can win against UTK too if they pitch and hit like they did this weekend) if they maintain their form and don’t allow these teams to regain their early season confidence. If Vandy wins 2 of these series they will likely secure a hosting spot, if they win 3 or sweep 2 you could see them in the national seed conversation. Talks of national seeds and tournament placement are still a ways away and shouldn’t be the primary focus of these next few weeks, but Vanderbilt is in a great position to make some late-season noise and secure an optimal spot in the tournament.

Even though I think all that talk about pitching, new approaches, and tournament seeding is important, I don’t want to take away from what we saw on the diamond this weekend. That was Vanderbilt’s best series of baseball in just under 4 years and a potentially season-altering set of results. If Vandy can bottle up this confidence and ride it the rest of the season, there’s no telling how far this team could go. Confidence is a dangerous thing for any team to have in any sport, but you really don’t want to let any iteration of the Vandyboys get hot. They might just burn right through everyone else they face.

To the fans: bask in the glory of a top-5 series sweep, y’all. Let’s revel in some of that glory we became so accustomed to and have sorely missed over the last couple of years. But who am I kidding, though, we’re baseball fans. Next ugly strikeout we see from a Vandy player we’ll yell at the TV and condemn this team to a regional bow-out, and there’s nothing wrong with that as long as you celebrate the wins just as hard.

Vandy will be back in action this Tuesday against MTSU before traveling to Oxford to take on the Ole Miss Rebels down in The ‘Sip (since that’s apparently a thing now).