Vandy did what it had not done in over 4 years: go into Knoxville, Tennessee and take the series from that team in orange. Final scores were 3-2 UTK on Friday, 10-6 Vandy on Saturday, and then 7-5 ‘Dores on Sunday.

There were not a ton of highly elite, standout performances on the weekend, as most of Vandy’s offensive and defensive production was done by committee. That being said, Colin Barczi went 4-9 on the weekend, including a 2 HR day on Sunday. Jonathan Vastine and Braden Holcomb both had 3 hits on the weekend and each hit 2 extra-base hits (Holcomb had a triple and HR, Vastine a double and HR).

Pitching wise, JD Thompson was strong in a loss, going 7 innings allowing just 2 runs and Ethan McElvain got two saves as he pitched a total of 3 innings allowing no runs and K-ing 3.

Friday’s game was a very low scoring affair that was a battle between two of the SEC’s best. Tennessee got out to the lead in the 2nd after 3 consecutive hits including a double and 2 singles before any outs were recorded. Thompson ratcheted up the intensity and got out of the inning with no more damage done, then pitched 3 scoreless frames. In the 6th Tennessee added one more thanks to a Hunter Ensley double and Dalton Bargo single. Meanwhile, Liam Doyle was pitching an elite game as he went 7 scoreless innings while striking out 12. Vandy simply couldn’t touch him all day. In the bottom of the 7th Alex Kranzler gave up 2 singles and a wild pitch which gave Tennessee their 3rd run of the game. After Doyle departed, Vandy started to hit again. Jonathan Vastine doubled and was driven in by a Rustan Rigdon single. Brodie Johnston then sent a solo shot over the wall in the 9th to make it a 1 run game. Ultimately, Vandy came up just short, though, as Tennessee took game 1.

Saturday’s game was as polar opposite as it can get from the pitcher’s duel on Friday. The scoring opened up early as Rustan Rigdon got hit by a pitch, stole 2nd and 3rd, then came in to score on an RJ Austin RBI groundout. Tennessee answered in the bottom of the first with a Hunter Ensley 2 run home run that gave the Vols the lead. After a scoreless 2nd, Vandy evened it up at 2-2 in the 3rd with a Jacob Humphrey leadoff double and steal of 3rd. He then came home on a Rigdon RBI groundout. The cracks started to show for the Vols in the 4th. A Riley Nelson single followed by Braden Holcomb’s 8th home run made it a 4-2 game. Jonathan Vastine then scored to make it a 5-2 game after singles by him and Mike Mancini. In the 5th a Riley Nelson double and Braden Holcomb RBI single made it a 6-2 game, but Tennessee wasn’t done yet. Miller Green came in to relieve Cody Bowker with 2 men on and 2 outs and gave up back-to-back singles that got it to 6-4. Vandy came right back in the 6th, though as Vastine and Rigdon walked, Humphrey singled, and Austin drove home 2 with a bases loaded single. A Riley Nelson single made it 9-4 and a throwing error on a Brodie Johnston FC RBI got Austin home and the score to 10-4. Things couldn’t just be easy, though, as Sawyer Hawks came in during the 7th and Gavin Kilen and Andrew Fischer hit back-to-back home runs that made it 6-4. Afterwards, though, the pitching took over. Hawks went 2 shutout innings after that and Ethan McElvain closed it out in the 9th. Vandy won its first game in Knoxville in 4 years 10-6.

Sunday’s game was wild all-around, with a lot of trash talk, a rain delay, and 5 home runs. Things started in a similar way to Saturday. In the 1st RJ Austin hit a single, stole 2 bases, then came home to score on an RBI groundout. Andrew Fischer then homered in the bottom of the 1st to tie things up. Tempers flared as Fischer took his time to let expletives fly at every single Vandy infielder and Connor Fennell as he rounded the bases. In the 2nd Colin Barczi hit an oppo solo homer to get things to 2-1, but Tennessee tied things back up after a runner reached on an error, a double, then sac fly. England Bryan would come in for Fennell in the 4th and throw a scoreless inning. In the top of the 5th Vanderbilt reclaimed the lead with a Mancini walk and steal of second followed by a Rustan Rigdon RBI single. But of course, as things go for Vandy it seems, Tennessee evened it up at 3 a piece thanks to 3 consecutive singles against Levi Huesman. In the 6th, though, Vanderbilt got real separation for the first time. After a very quick first two outs by Nelson and Johnston, Tony Vitello elected to put in Tanner Franklin, something he would quickly regret. Braden Holcomb tripled off the top of the right fielder’s glove and was driven home by Barczi’s second oppo home run of the day. This gave Vanderbilt a 5-3 lead and the first multi-run advantage of the day. Then, lightning struck and the game was delayed for 2.5 hours. Immediately after the delay, though, Jonathan Vastine hit his 7th home run of the year off of Dylan Loy to make it a 6-3 game. But things were never going to be comfortable in this game, though. In the bottom of the 6th Alex Kranzler came in and hit Gavin Kilen with a pitch and then Andrew Fischer hit his second home run of the game to tighten things back up and make it a 6-5 game.

Things became stressful for the rest of the evening, as neither team could break through and either separate or close the gap after the 6th. Nate Snead came in for UTK and pitched a hitless top of the 7th. Miller Green was then put in for a 2nd time this weekend, and despite allowing a leadoff hit and HBP, got out of the 7th unscathed. Snead once again put up a hitless 8th, and Vanderbilt went to Ethan McElvain. McElvain went 1-2-3 against the 9, 1, and 2 hole hitters to take us to the 9th with Vandy up 6-5. Vastine and Mendez both struck out to begin the 9th, but then Mike Mancini hit his 2nd home run of the year to give Vandy a much needed insurance run and make it 7-5. In the bottom of the inning, McElvain remained in and gave up a leadoff single. He then got a popup to 3rd, gave up a 2nd single, got a flyout to deep center-field, walked the bases loaded, then got the biggest strikeout of the season to end it. Vandy took the game and series by a score of 7-5.

One of the biggest things over the last few years has been that it seemed like the Vandyboys lost their swagger and belief in themselves. Constantly, at the first sign of things going wrong, the team would implode and games would get out of hand quickly. Whenever they came up against a trash talking, hot-headed group like the Vols they would shrink away and try to hide from the spotlight. This group is different, though.

They didn’t care that Gavin Kilen and Andrew Fischer sent towering home runs past the walls and then talked trash all the way around the bases. They were unbothered by Tony Vitello cursing out their pitchers after they allowed runs. They were unphased by the rowdy and sometimes too-energetic Volunteer crowd. They just kept working and doing their own thing. They maintained the mindset that their game would do the talking, and boy did it ever.

As evidenced by Hunter Ensley’s postgame fit and the scrum that formed after the series was over, it was clear that Vandy had re-established a mental upper hand over the Volunteers. In a flipping of the script that seemed improbable to the point of impossibility before the season started, the Vandyboys reclaimed their state. And their game spoke louder than any Andrew Fischer expletive-laden outburst ever could.

Having a strong mentality is all well and good, but you need a lot of good players to win. The Vandy bullpen has exactly that. While no member of the pen other than Luke Guth and Ethan McElvain posted scoreless weekends, it was clear to anyone watching that Vandy’s bullpen outclasses Tennessee’s in just about every way. Vandy has such a variety of arms that Tim Corbin and Scott Brown trust and are able to exploit matchups or pitch around poor starts because of it. Not much more needs to be said than this: Cody Bowker and Connor Fennell only pitched 4.2 and 3 innings, respectively, and Vandy won both of those games.

In the series preview I mentioned that Vandy and Tennessee’s offensive outputs, of late, had been very even, with Vandy even having an upper hand in power production. Even with that being objectively true, I don’t think anyone expected Vandy to significantly outslug Tennessee. Vanderbilt hit 6 home runs to Tennessee’s 4 over the weekend, and hit more extra-base hits overall when accounting for doubles and triples. This team is really, really scary if Riley Nelson, Braden Holcomb, Brodie Johnston, and Colin Barczi are hitting like they have been over the last 3 series. Those four have combined for 8 home runs and 13 extra base hits over the last 2 weeks and are forming a really scary middle of the order for Vanderbilt. With Rigdon still getting on base a ton, RJ Austin round into form, and Jacob Humphrey looking strong, too (assuming no extended time out for a new injury sustained in game 3), this offense could be close to realizing their potential.

This series win takes Vandy to 16 SEC wins and should 100% secure a Nashville regional. It also clears a very obvious path to a national seed. If Vanderbilt can beat Kentucky at home next weekend, they will 100% be a top-8 seed in the NCAA tournament. We’ve seen how much better this team plays at home compared to away, so the significance of that cannot be understated. This team has played itself into an extremely strong position for the postseason, and now Vandy fans have postseason baseball in Nashville to look forward to.

In what can only be described as the most important series victory of the season (and maybe in the last 4 years), Vanderbilt took down arch-rivals Tennessee in Knoxville. They have cleared themselves a path to a national seed and to host postseason baseball at the Hawk yet again. And maybe most importantly, they got the Tennessee monkey off their back, and re-staked their claim as the best baseball team in the state. Sleep well, Vandy fans. All is right in the baseball world.