Vandy Boys Clinch Series Over No. 13 LSU
Vandy Boys Clinch Opening SEC Series
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Vandy Boys have been through an up-and-down 20 games of the season. While the Commodore faithful are accustomed to winning and playing for Omaha, this season has felt like it will be a challenge to get to that spot again.
With several on the injury report, most of them being arms that Tim Corbin and Scott Brown need and a starting catcher who also swings a decent bat, all is not lost for the Dores just yet. This isn’t football. Baseball is a marathon.
The Dores are hosting the No. 13 LSU Tigers for the opening SEC series, and have just clinched the opening SEC series with one game to go. What a statement by the Vandy Boys.
The Commodores have proved that the bats are in fact for real in two games against the Tigers, having scored a total of 24 runs. Yes, you read that correctly, 24 runs in two games this weekend against the LSU Tigers with one more game to play.
The Dores look to be back to ripping the ball again and putting it where the opposition isn’t. Also, to be noted, Vanderbilt has only hit four long balls in those two games, so that also shows that their offense spans more than just hitting tanks.
For the other side of the ball, Vanderbilt has several pitchers that are not available due to injury. While Friday night saw five different arms do their best to push through game one, Saturday saw a freshman in Wyatt Nadeau who was lights out from the jump.
Nadeau began the game by striking out the side, and the Tigers could not see him. His command was good for a freshman who came into the night with only four appearances this season. He would have his bad balls that got away from him, but those happen.
This Commodore bullpen needed a strong outing from their starter, and Wyatt Nadeau gave them just that.
His 7.0 innings pitched only saw three runs on four LSU hits, and he fanned 10 with only two walks allowed. You couldn’t ask for anything better than that from him. Then he passed the ball to another freshman in Tyler Baird, who pitched two great innings of relief to close it out Saturday night.
While some may still be reluctant to be happy, I will definitely take this as a good sign. The Dores are not healthy, and they still found a way to win the series against the LSU Tigers. How could you not be happy about that?
While there are things that need sharpening up, such as wild pitches, passed balls, and things of that nature, those are things that are fixable. Keep in mind, the Dores are working with a backup freshman catcher, even though Korbin Reynolds is well capable.
All Vanderbilt has to do is not beat themselves and do what they can to win at least two games on the weekends, with no midweek disasters.
Let’s take a chill pill. The SEC season is just getting started, and if the Commodores can get fully healthy and continue strengthening areas of their game, this season could turn out to be something really good. It’s just March.
