The ‘Dores bounced back from an embarrassing sweep at home versus Arkansas with their first ever sweep of Florida in Gainesville this weekend. They won by scores of 6-0, 3-2, and 11-3.

Offensively, they were led by RJ Austin, Riley Nelson, Jonathan Vastine, and Colin Barczi. Austin went 5-13 with 2 RBIs, Nelson was 5-9 with 4 RBIs and a home run (he also drew 3 walks), Vastine was 6-10 with 3 RBIs and a HR, Barczi went 4-13 with 3 RBIs and the game winning home run in Saturday's game.

Pitching was outstanding in the first two games, as JD Thompson went 4.2 innings with 0 ER, Sawyer Hawks went 4 innings with 0 ER, and Cody Bowker pitched 4.2 with 1 ER.

Friday’s game was highlighted by elite pitching and timely hitting. JD Thompson did not have his best stuff and struggled a bit during the early innings but did well to work through trouble and get the crucial outs. The game was scoreless until the 3rd inning where RJ Austin tripled and scored Mancini who had just walked. In the 5th inning Rustan Rigdon drew a walk and was driven home by an RJ Austin double. Austin was then brought home by a Riley Nelson single. Hawks took over for Thompson in the bottom of the 6th and dominated, only allowing 3 more hits and no walks all day. Vandy put the game away in the 8th behind Vastine and Humphrey walks followed by singles from Mancini and Nelson to go up 6-0. Hawks would close the game with scoreless 8th and 9th innings.

Saturday’s game was much more dramatic despite less runs being scored. Cody Bowker was dominant in the first few innings, racking up 6 Ks and not allowing a run through the first 4 innings. Vandy would get out to an early lead thanks to Jonathan Vastine’s 5th home run of the season in the top of the 3rd and extend it in the 5th thanks to a Mike Mancini double that scored Rustan Rigdon. Bowker lost his command in the 5th and allowed a run thanks to a walk and 2 singles. Miller Green would come on in relief and get Vandy out of the 5th. Green would get one more out in the 6th but after a walk and single Alex Kranzler came in for him and got Vandy out of the 6th. Florida tied the game at 2 a piece in the 7th as Kranzler gave up 3 hits and a walk but limited the damage to only one run. After a scoreless 8th, Colin Barczi would be the hero and hit an oppo home run as Vandy was down to its last strike in the 9th. Connor Fennell would come on in the 9th and only give up 1 run as he gets the first save of his Vandy career.

Sunday’s game was the highest scoring affair of all of the games as both pitching staffs were depleted. Brennan Seiber got the start for Vandy and pitched 2 scoreless innings despite giving up some hard contact and not recording a single strikeout. Jacob Humphrey, Brodie Johnston, and Riley Nelson all made phenomenal defensive plays in the first 2 innings that saved Vandy at least 2 or 3 runs. Vandy would open the scoring in the top of the 2nd as Brodie Johnston was hit by a pitch, stole second, and was driven in by a Jonathan Vastine single. Florida would answer back in the 3rd with Matthew Shorey pitching behind 2 singles. Vanderbilt would respond with a 3 spot in the top of the 4th with a Nelson single, Johnston walk, Barczi single, and 2 sac flies by Rigdon and Vastine to take a 4-1 lead. The 3 run lead would not last long, though, as Connor Fennell came on in the 5th and gave up back-to-back homers as Vandy’s advantage dwindled to 1. Fennell would lock things down, though, as he did not allow another baserunner in the inning. Fennell would get two outs in the 6th before Huesman relieved him and got the final out. In the top of the 7th Vandy would load the bases with no outs behind a Vastine single, Rigdon walk, and Humphrey bunt single. Mancini grounded into a double play but a run scored from 3rd and then Rigdon scored on a balk to re-establish a 3 run lead for Vandy. Florida would load the bases behind 3 singles, but Levi Huesman was able to strand the bases loaded with a fielder’s choice and a ground ball to 2nd. Tommy O’Rourke would come in during the 8th and pitch a quick 1-2-3 inning. Vandy would shut the door in the 9th inning behind a Riley Nelson solo home run, Johnston walk, Colin Barczi RBI single, Vastine single, and Rustan Rigdon’s first career home run as they took an 11-3 lead. In the 9th O’Rourke would slam with a scoreless inning to close the door and finish the sweep.

In a 3 game SEC series in Gainesville, Vandy pitching only allowed 5 runs and made just 1 error. Vandy’s defense was also particularly impressive in the Sunday game, robbing Florida of a bunch of early extra base hits and ensuring that even a middling offense could get the job done. Massive credit has to be given to Scott Brown for producing such great results despite not having any guys who are “elite” MLB prospects. Thompson, Bowker, and Hawks continue to get very strong results and the bullpen continues to hold up enough to get some big wins. Brown and Tim Corbin’s management of the bullpen was strong, too, as they continue to try and sort out the rotation with Ethan McElvain’s continued struggles.

While it is true that in today’s game you cannot beat the best of the best with just pitching and defense, it is a viable strategy against just about every non top-10 team. Vandy and the coaching staff deserve credit for staying elite in these areas and playing to their strengths.

I’m not sure I’ve ever seen an offense so hot and cold throughout the lineup. RJ Austin and Riley Nelson broke their slumps (Austin was 12-55 coming in, Nelson was 2-22) and produced very well, but aside from them the trends coming into this weekend continued. On the plus side, Vastine, who was swinging one of the hottest bats on the team, batted .600 and had an OBP at just under .700, Barczi, who has had a knack for clutch hits, continued that streak and had several RBIs. Negatively, though, Brodie Johnston continued to slump and did not have a single hit, Jacob Humphrey only went 3-13 with 5 Ks, and Mac Rose continued to struggle in SEC play with only 1 hit in 3 games. The offensive production is far too inconsistent and there is little chance that Vandy wins the upcoming series if these key bats continue to not produce well. It will be intriguing to see if Corbin elects to try out Holcomb, Davis, or Rogers in exchange for any of those 3 struggling bats (Davis did get 2 ABs in place of Rose in Sunday’s game).

Getting swept by Arkansas in dominant fashion left a bad taste in everyone’s mouth but it’s important to recognize that they are still 7-5 in the SEC and have 2 series sweeps. That’s not a bad spot to be in at all. On top of that, Vandy is 2 pitches away from being 9-3 (Auburn game 3, Arkansas game 2) and certainly has shown that they can compete with very strong teams.

Vandy’s opponents do, however, step up in difficulty in a major way for these next 5 weeks, as every opponent in that stretch is currently ranked in the top 10 (that will change after this weekend, though). Despite their high rankings, Vandy is within one game of Oklahoma, Alabama, and Ole Miss. These teams should be very good matchups and from a talent perspective, do not significantly outclass Vandy. This stretch of the season is where we will learn if Vandy really can hope to compete with elite teams this year.

A series sweep in the SEC is always a great result no matter the opponent. Sweeping Florida in Gainesville for the first time EVER, is also extremely impressive. Vandy was clutch throughout the weekend and continuously came through in high-pressure situations both offensively and with pitching. This should be a massive confidence booster as they enter by far the hardest stretch of their season that will likely make or break things for this team down the stretch. Vandy will take on #10 Oklahoma in Norman next weekend.