If you happen to see the Vanderbilt baseball team over the past few weeks, which was winning an epic series in Knoxville, sweeping the SEC Championship and getting the total seeds of the NCAA Championship, please inform someone on campus. People are looking for those Commodores.
Most of them are not in the NCAA area of Hawkins Field in Nashville, Tennessee.
Most Commodores batsmen wore uniforms and lost two games in three days to end their weakest fashion season, which is strangers.
Not only did they play badly. They were tight and timid, frightened. Contrary to the famous clutch performance this season, these Commodores want zero smoke. They withered under hazy pressure and only got worse as the pressure increased.
A shocking weekend started, disappointing him by defeating Wright State 4-3 in close win and losing to Louisville 3-2 to put Vanderbilt in the loser’s bracket. Then the next afternoon was embarrassed, Wright State plated four games in the first inning and held a later rally to get a 5-4 victory in the knockout round, lifting Vanderbilt out of his pain.
And, indeed, it is painful for any unfortunate Vanderbilt fan to witness it there.
The top seed Commodores played 27 innings, and they were all behind except one inning. Their pitching and defense are solid enough in most cases.
But what about the offense? Ha ha.
In the opener, Commodores took no hit in six innings with Wright State pitcher Cam Allen. Then, in the saddest circumstances, Vanderbilt was kept silent by another raider pitcher Griffen Paige, who opened the game with an 8.90 era. Page allows one blow - oneAnd - Eight rounds.
For regionality, Vanderbilt beat .132 and did not score the first hit rate in the region in the runners’ scoring position until the final. Before that, Vanderbilt started the regional 0-14 with the runner’s scoring position.
doom. Bats are bad. Bad swing. All bad.
While stunning to the overall seed of the tournament, it would be a more thorough humility without continuing the narrative of the home team.
This NCAA Championship is no longer a playground for Commodores. Now is their home of horror.
Vanderbilt has failed to stand out from the opening area for four consecutive years since losing the final match of the College World Series in 2021. In the NCAA game, the record for the past three years is 2-6 (Hawkins Field has four losses), Xavier, High Point and Wright State have lost.
The outstanding performance in the NCAA region last season (including high points losses) seemed to be a turning point in Vanderbilt’s plan to decline, which seems to blend its performances in 2025.
These Commodores are a good team with some good times. Most notably, they regained control of Tennessee's in-state competition over Tennessee and beat the VOLS in the SEC Championship to beat the championship. The first type of seed is also a good surprise reward.
But in college baseball, there is no point in success at the end of the season. At that time, Vanderbilt's baseball program developed a habit of narrowing down from the challenge.
This is a priceless opportunity to change the narrative by demonstrating other ways.
Instead, the narrative is stronger than ever as Vanderbilt is awkward in 2025. it's out of the question.
Arrive at the Gentleman Estes, a Tennessee Sports Columnist, via gestes@tennessean.com and hang out with him at bluesky @gentryestes.bsky.social