2021 Vanderbilt Commodores baseball team

The 2021 Vanderbilt Commodores baseball team represented Vanderbilt University during the 2021 NCAA Division I baseball season. Vanderbilt competed in the Eastern Division of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). The Commodores played their home games at Hawkins Field. Coach Tim Corbin led the Commodores in his 19th season with the program, reaching the 2021 College World Series finals, finishing as the national runner-up to No. 11 Mississippi State.

2021 Vanderbilt Commodores baseball
ConferenceSoutheastern Conference
DivisionEastern Division
Ranking
CoachesNo. 2
CBNo. 2
Record49–18 (19–10 SEC)
Head coach
Assistant coaches
  • Mike Baxter
  • Scott Brown
Home stadiumHawkins Field
Seasons
← 2020
2022 →
2021 Southeastern Conference baseball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
Eastern
No. 6 Tennessee  x‍‍‍y 20 10   .667 50 18   .735
No. 2 Vanderbilt  ‍‍‍y 19 10   .655 49 18   .731
Florida  ‍‍‍y 17 13   .567 38 22   .633
South Carolina  ‍‍‍y 16 14   .533 34 23   .596
Georgia  ‍‍‍ 13 17   .433 31 25   .554
Kentucky  ‍‍‍ 12 18   .400 29 23   .558
Missouri  ‍‍‍ 8 22   .267 15 36   .294
Western
No. 5 Arkansas  xy 22 8   .733 50 13   .794
No. 1 Mississippi State  ‍‍‍y 20 10   .667 50 18   .735
No. 13 Ole Miss  ‍‍‍y 18 12   .600 45 22   .672
No. 18 LSU  ‍‍‍y 13 17   .433 38 25   .603
Alabama  ‍‍‍y 12 17   .414 32 26   .552
Auburn  ‍‍‍ 10 20   .333 25 27   .481
Texas A&M  ‍‍‍ 9 21   .300 29 27   .518
x – Division champion
† – Conference champion
‡ – Tournament champion
y – Invited to the NCAA tournament
As of June 30, 2021[1]
Rankings from D1Baseball

Previous season

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The Commodores finished 13–5 overall, and 0–0 in the conference. The season was prematurely cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Roster

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2021 Vanderbilt Commodores roster[2]
 

Pitchers

  • 22 - Jack LeiterSophomore
  • 27 - Ethan Smith – Junior
  • 28 - Ryan Stefiuk – Freshman
  • 29 - Nick Maldonado – Sophomore
  • 30 - Nelson Berkwich – Freshman
  • 31 - Miles Garrett – Freshman
  • 32 - Hugh Fisher – Senior
  • 33 - Hunter Owen – Freshman
  • 35 - Chris McElvain – Sophomore
  • 40 - Sam Hliboki – Sophomore
  • 42 - Christian LittleFreshman
  • 43 - Michael Doolin – Sophomore
  • 44 - Donye Evans – Freshman
  • 46 - Gage Bradley – Freshman
  • 49 - Ryan Keenan – Sophomore
  • 50 - Luke MurphyJunior
  • 66 - Thomas Schultz – Sophomore
  • 77 - Brett Hansen – Freshman
  • 80 - Kumar RockerJunior
  • 88 - Patrick ReillyFreshman
 

Catchers

  • 5 - CJ Rodriguez – Sophomore
  • 45 - Alan Espinal – Freshman
  • 55 - Maxwell Romero Jr. – Sophomore

Infielders

  • 2 - Javier VazJunior
  • 9 - Carter YoungSophomore
  • 20 - Jack O'Dowd – Freshman
  • 25 - Park Noland – Sophomore
  • 39 - Gavin Casas – Freshman
  • 99 - Jayson Gonzalez – Senior
 

Outfielders

  • 3 - Cooper Davis – Senior
  • 8 - Isaiah Thomas – Junior
  • 11 - Matt Hogan – Junior
  • 19 - Troy LaNeve – Freshman
  • 21 - Calvin Hewett – Freshman
  • 51 - Enrique BradfieldFreshman

Utility

  • 10 - T.J. McKenzie – Sophomore
  • 12 - Dominic KeeganJunior
  • 16 - Jack Bulger – Freshman
  • 17 - C.J. Pittaro – Freshman
  • 18 - Will Duff – Sophomore
  • 34 - Spencer JonesSophomore
 

Coaching staff

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2021 vanderbilt commodores coaching staff[2]
Name Position Seasons at
Vanderbilt
Alma Mater
Tim Corbin Head coach 19 Ohio Wesleyan (1984)
Scott Brown Associate head coach 9 Cortland (1999)
Mike Baxter Assistant Coach 4 Vanderbilt (2006)
David Macias Volunteer Coach 4 Vanderbilt (2008)

Schedule and results

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Legend
  Vanderbilt win
  Vanderbilt loss
  Postponement
Bold Vanderbilt team member
2021 Vanderbilt Commodores baseball game log (49–18)
Regular season (39–13)
Postseason (10–5)
College World Series (4–3)
Date Opponent Seed Site/stadium Score Win Loss Save TV Attendance Overall record NCAAT record
June 19 No. 5 (5) Arizona No. 4 (4) TD Ameritrade Park
Omaha, Nebraska
W 7–6 (12) McElvain (5–1) Vannelle (5–3) ESPN 23,870 46–15 6–0
June 21 No. 16 NC State No. 4 (4) TD Ameritrade Park L 0-1 Highfill (9-2) Leiter (10-4) Justice (13) ESPN 23,712 46-16 6-1
June 23 No. 9 (9) Stanford No. 4 (4) TD Ameritrade Park W 6-5 Murphy (4-1) Beck (9-3) ESPN 22,804 47-16 7-1
June 25 No. 16 NC State No. 4 (4) TD Ameritrade Park W 3-1 Rocker (14-3) Payne (0-1) Murphy (9) ESPN2 20,538 48-16 8-1
June 26 No. 16 NC State No. 4 (4) TD Ameritrade Park No contest 48-16 8-1
June 28 No. 11 (7) Mississippi State No. 4 (4) TD Ameritrade Park W 8-2 Leiter (11-4) MacLeod (6-6) Maldonado (9) ESPN2 24,052 49-16 9-1
June 29 No. 11 (7) Mississippi State No. 4 (4) TD Ameritrade Park L 2-13 Johnson (4-0) Little (3-2) ESPN 24,122 49-17 9-2
June 30 No. 11 (7) Mississippi State No. 4 (4) TD Ameritrade Park L 0-9 Bednar (9-1) Rocker (14-4) Sims (13) ESPN2 24,052 49-18 9-3

*Denotes non–conference game • Schedule source • Rankings based on the teams' current ranking in the D1Baseball poll

Nashville Regional

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Nashville Regional Teams
(1) Vanderbilt Commodores (2) Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (3) Indiana State Sycamores (4) Presbyterian Blue Hose
Regional Regional Regional Final Super Regional
               
1 Vanderbilt 10
4 Presbyterian 0
1 Vanderbilt 4
2 Georgia Tech 3
3 Indiana State 6
2 Georgia Tech 7
1 Vanderbilt 14
Nashville Regional – Hawkins Field
2 Georgia Tech 1111
4 Presbyterian 2
3 Indiana State 9
3 Indiana State 0
2 Georgia Tech 9
4 Vanderbilt 2 4
13 East Carolina 0 1
1 East Carolina 8
4 Norfolk State 5
1 East Carolina 7
2 Charlotte 5
3 Maryland 10
2 Charlotte 13
1 East Carolina 9
Greenville Regional – Clark–LeClair Stadium
3 Maryland 6
4 Norfolk State 0
3 Maryland 16
3 Maryland 2
2 Charlotte 1

Nashville Super Regional

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Nashville Super Regional Teams
(4) Vanderbilt Commodores (13) East Carolina Pirates

College World Series

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2021 College World Series Teams
NC State Wolfpack (9) Stanford Cardinal (5) Arizona Wildcats (4) Vanderbilt Commodores Virginia Cavaliers (3) Tennessee Volunteers (7) Mississippi State Bulldogs (2) Texas Longhorns
First round Second round Semifinals Finals
               
NC State 10
9 Stanford 4
NC State 1
4 Vanderbilt 0
5 Arizona 6
4 Vanderbilt 712
NC State 1
Bracket 1
4 Vanderbilt 3 [A]
9 Stanford 14
5 Arizona 5
9 Stanford 5
4 Vanderbilt 6
4 Vanderbilt 8 2 0
7 Mississippi State 2 13 9
3 Tennessee 0
Virginia 6
Virginia 5
7 Mississippi State 6
7 Mississippi State 2
2 Texas 1
7 Mississippi State 5 4
Bracket 2
2 Texas 8 3
3 Tennessee 4
2 Texas 8
2 Texas 6
Virginia 2

Rankings

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Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
( ) = First-place votes
Week
PollPre1234567891011121314151617Final
Coaches'[4]3 (4)3 (4)*32 (10)2 (6)1 (22)1 (23)1 (31)2 (1)2 (2)2 (4)22 (1)233
Baseball America[5]6433332263232222
Collegiate Baseball^[6]2222211122222222
NCBWA[7]4222221122232334
D1Baseball[8]43222111222223342

^ Collegiate Baseball ranked 40 teams in their preseason poll, but only ranked 30 teams weekly during the season.
NCBWA ranks 35 teams in their preseason poll, but only ranks 30 teams weekly during the season.
* A new poll was not released for this week, so for comparison purposes, the previous week's ranking is inserted in this week's slot.

Record vs. conference opponents

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Last two do not qualify for conf. tourn. Blank are not scheduled. Blue are home games, otherwise away.

Source: 2021 SEC baseball game results, 2021 SEC baseball schedule

Team W–L ALA ARK AUB FLA UGA KEN LSU MSU MIZZ MISS SCAR TENN TAMU VAN Team Div SR SW
ALA 12–17 1–2 2–1 . . 1–2 1–2 0–3 3–0 0–3 . 1–2 3–0 0–2 ALA W5 3–7 2–2
ARK 22–8 2–1 2–1 3–0 2–1 . 2–1 3–0 . 2–1 2–1 2–1 2–1 . ARK W1 10–0 2–0
AUB 10–20 1–2 1–2 1–2 2–1 0–3 1–2 0–3 2–1 0–3 . . 2–1 . AUB W6 3–7 0–3
FLA 17–13 . 0–3 2–1 2–1 2–1 . . 3–0 2–1 0–3 1–2 3–0 2–1 FLA E3 7–3 2–2
UGA 13–17 . 1–2 1–2 1–2 2–1 . . 2–1 1–2 1–2 1–2 1–2 2–1 UGA E5 3–7 0–0
KEN 12–18 2–1 . 3–0 1–2 1–2 1–2 0–3 2–1 . 0–3 1–2 . 1–2 KEN E6 3–7 1–2
LSU 13–17 2–1 1–2 2–1 . . 2–1 1–2 . 2–1 1–2 0–3 2–1 0–3 LSU W4 5–5 0–2
MSU 20–10 3–0 0–3 3–0 . . 3–0 2–1 1–2 2–1 2–1 . 3–0 1–2 MSU W2 7–3 4–1
MIZZ 8–22 0–3 . 1–2 0–3 1–2 1–2 . 2–1 . 1–2 0–3 2–1 0–3 MIZZ E7 2–8 0–4
MISS 18–12 3–0 1–2 3–0 1–2 2–1 . 1–2 1–2 . 3–0 . 1–2 2–1 MISS W3 5–5 3–0
SCAR 16–14 . 1–2 . 3–0 2–1 3–0 2–1 1–2 2–1 0–3 1–2 . 1–2 SCAR E4 5–5 2–1
TENN 20–10 2–1 1–2 . 2–1 2–1 2–1 3–0 . 3–0 . 2–1 2–1 1–2 TENN E1 8–2 2–0
TAMU 9–21 0–3 1–2 1–2 0–3 2–1 . 1–2 0–3 1–2 2–1 . 1–2 . TAMU W7 2–8 0–3
VAN 19–10 2–0 . . 1–2 1–2 2–1 3–0 2–1 3–0 1–2 2–1 2–1 . VAN E2 7–3 2–0
Team W–L ALA ARK AUB FLA UGA KEN LSU MSU MIZZ MISS SCAR TENN TAMU VAN Team Div SR SW

Updated for entire regular season.

2021 MLB draft

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Player Position Round Overall MLB Team
Jack Leiter RHP 1 2 Texas Rangers
Kumar Rocker RHP 1 10 New York Mets
Luke Murphy RHP 4 110 Los Angeles Angels
CJ Rodriguez C 5 158 Oakland Athletics
Hugh Fisher LHP 10 288 Arizona Diamondbacks
Jayson Gonzalez RHP 17 515 Chicago White Sox
Dominic Keegan UTIL 19 573 New York Yankees

†Rocker did not sign with the Mets, but did not return to Vanderbilt.[9] Keegan did not sign with the Yankees and returned to Vanderbilt.[10]

Notes

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  1. ^ Game declared no contest due to COVID-19 protocols with NC State. Vanderbilt advanced in the tournament.[3]

References

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  1. ^ "2021 SEC Baseball Standings". secsports.com. Retrieved June 1, 2021.
  2. ^ a b "Official Baseball Roster". Vanderbilt Commodores. Retrieved June 9, 2020.
  3. ^ "Vanderbilt-NC State College World Series game ruled no-contest due to COVID-19 protocols". NCAA.com. June 26, 2021. Retrieved June 26, 2021.
  4. ^ Baseball coaches Poll
  5. ^ Baseball America College: Top 25
  6. ^ NCAA DIV I Baseball Polls-Collegiate Baseball Newspaper
  7. ^ NCBWA Division I poll
  8. ^ D1 Baseball
  9. ^ "Mets do not sign first-round pitcher Kumar Rocker before draft deadline".
  10. ^ "Dominic Keegan spurns Yankees to return to Vanderbilt".
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