Sunday, May 20, 2012

Commodores Sweep Ole Miss; All But Punch Their Ticket to NCAAs

Vanderbilt's 6-3 win against the Rebels of Ole Miss means Tim Corbin's Commodores will be playing baseball in June, an all but unthinkable scenario 6 weeks ago.  The Commodores finished the regular season with a 29-25 record and a conference finish of 16-14.  Vanderbilt was 8-2 in the month of May, and needed all of those wins to pull themselves far enough above .500 to give themselves breathing room in Hoover.  The Commodores don't have to win in Hoover to finish the season with a better than .500 record, meaning Vanderbilt will all almost certainly be in the NCAA Tournament when the Selection Committee announces their field of 64 on Memorial Day.  

Before the NCAAs though, the Commodores will compete in the SEC Tournament in Hoover, starting Tuesday night as the #5 seed squaring off in the late game against #9 Georgia. Frankly, I don't fully understand all the scenarios if they win, so... there's that.  Suffice it to say that Tim Corbin's team has to be one of the hottest squads in the nation and that no one wants to see Vanderbilt in Hoover or their regional.  The Commodores have played themselves into the field of 64 - no small feat after a 1-7 start.  They have essentially been playing "elimination games since the end of April and haven't let up yet. Here's hoping they don't any time soon.


3 comments:

Seamus O'Toole said...

Could this be one of the greatest season turnarounds in Vanderbilt history? Let this be a lesson: Never write off CTC&C.

Bobby O'Shea said...

Not to fall in the doomsday mentality of SOV, but I think the thing I live most about our baseball program is the belief that, in the end, they will find a way to get it done. There is no question they've had some disappointments over the last 5 or 6 years (I still submit the loss to Michigan is the second most disappointing Vanderbilt outcome other than Jeff Green's travel). With that said, isn't the baseball team the biggest "gamer" program we've got?

Omaha 2013

AspenVU said...

Yes those are the 2 big stage fiascos of VU sports