Why Tim Corbin plans to 'audit' Vanderbilt baseball after SEC Tournament loss
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HOOVER, AL ― Vanderbilt baseball is facing its reckoning.
The 12th-seeded Commodores (33-25) are likely to miss the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2005 — a 19-year streak that is, for at least the next few days, the longest active run in the country — after an 8-3 loss to No. 5 seed Florida on May 20 in the second round of the SEC Tournament.
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For years, the problem was hitting. Vanderbilt had fearsome pitching staffs but offenses that couldn't hit home runs and would disappear in the postseason. This time, it was a different — and more concerning — problem.
New hitting coach Jason Esposito worked wonders as the team set a single-season home run record. While players like Braden Holcomb, Colin Barczi and Mike Mancini hit more home runs this season, it wasn't just about power. Brodie Johnston went from a .260 average to .332 and from 10 walks to 35.
But the pitching was never good enough, and especially not after losing key pieces like Austin Nye, Matthew Shorey and England Bryan for most of the season. Connor Fennell was the only reliable starter. Against Florida, the Commodores, lacking in other options, brought back Tyler Baird on four days' rest. He gave up three runs in two innings, and the team didn't have enough in the bullpen to back him up.
What that means for Vanderbilt, and longtime pitching coach Scott Brown, is unclear. Coach Tim Corbin declined to discuss any potential staffing changes, but Vanderbilt has listed a job for a "director of player personnel and strategy" who would have GM-like responsibilities.
Ever since the Commodores played in Omaha for the most recent time — the day before NIL officially went into effect in 2021 — there have been questions about whether Corbin would rather retire than continue to deal with the transfer portal, especially with Vanderbilt academic standards that make getting upper-class transfers difficult.
Corbin refuted that idea.
"I love it. It is challenging. I think the balance is trying to do things in the way that you're trying to stick to your values of what you deem necessary and important inside your program," he said. "But yet, at the same time, it's a balancing act in terms of getting players, whether it's incoming high school kids, being able to acquire them, finances probably helps to that some degree. We don't dip into the portal a lot. And really our opportunity in the portal is we probably have to go (get) freshmen, sophomores. We can't get a junior. So we have our own challenges that way.
"But I love college baseball. I love where college baseball is. I love where this conference is. I just look at it as, OK, we've got some good players coming back, but we need to better ourselves . . . I just look at it and say I'm going to figure this (expletive) out, some way, somehow."
Corbin mentioned several players in the team's core like Johnston, Rustan Rigdon, Ryker Waite and Tommy Goodin, who are expected to return. But the Commodores need to get the right pieces around them, whether that's players or coaches.
Corbin vowed to "audit" the program but without overreacting.
"We've been very consistent for a long period of time, and we'll always be measured against those years that we were at the top. And that's OK. There's nothing wrong with that. But that's the challenge for the program is getting back to that point. And sometimes, streaks are streaks are streaks. That's what they are. But sometimes when you don't go, a lot of times people start to understand, whoa, that really was tough. That was difficult to do."
And he hasn't totally given up on the streak, even as others outside the program have.
"It is completely out of our hands," Corbin said. " . . . Who knows what happens? It might be some teams that have won their conference that win their tournament and open up some spots. If they open up some spots, we'll be waiting."
Aria Gerson covers Vanderbilt athletics for The Tennessean. Contact her at [email protected] or on X @aria_gerson.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Why Tim Corbin will re-evaluate Vanderbilt baseball after SEC Tournament loss