2015 Vanderbilt Commodores baseball team

2015 Vanderbilt Commodores baseball
SEC East Division Champions
Nashville Regional Champions
Champaign Super Regional Champions
College World Series Final, L 1–2 vs. Virginia
Conference Southeastern Conference
2015 record 51-21 (20–10 SEC)
Head coach Tim Corbin (13th year)
Assistant coach Scott Brown (3rd year)
Assistant coach Travis Jewett (3rd year)
Home stadium Hawkins Field
2015 Southeastern Conference baseball standings
Conf     Overall
Team W   L   PCT     W   L   PCT
Eastern
#2 Vanderbilt xy 20 – 10   .667     51 – 21   .708
#3 Florida ‡y 19 – 11   .633     52 – 18   .743
Missouri 15 – 15   .500     30 – 28   .517
Kentucky 14 – 15   .483     30 – 25   .545
South Carolina 13 – 17   .433     32 – 25   .561
Tennessee 11 – 18   .379     24 – 26   .480
Georgia 10 – 19   .345     26 – 28   .481
Western
#5 LSU x†y 21 – 8   .724     54 – 12   .818
#11 Texas A&M y 18 – 10   .643     50 – 14   .781
#7 Arkansas y 17 – 12   .586     40 – 25   .615
Ole Miss y 15 – 14   .517     30 – 28   .517
Auburn y 13 – 17   .433     36 – 26   .581
Alabama 12 – 18   .400     32 – 28   .533
Mississippi State 8 – 22   .267     24 – 30   .444
x – Division champion
† – Conference champion
‡ – Tournament champion
y – Invited to the NCAA Tournament
Rankings from Collegiate Baseball

The 2015 Vanderbilt Commodores baseball team represented Vanderbilt University during the 2015 NCAA Division I baseball season. The Commodores played their home games at Hawkins Field as a member of the Southeastern Conference. They were led by head coach Tim Corbin, in his 13th season at Vanderbilt.

Previous season

In 2014, the Commodores finished the season 3rd in the SEC's Eastern Division with a record of 47–19, 17–13 in conference play. They qualified for the 2014 Southeastern Conference Baseball Tournament and were eliminated in the second round. They qualified for the 2014 NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament, and were selected to host the Nashville Regional, which included Oregon, Clemson, and Xavier. The Commodores won their first three games of the regional, defeating Xavier by a score of 11–0, Oregon by a score of 7–2, and Oregon again, this time, 3–2, to advance to the Super Regional, of which they were hosts. In their first game against Stanford, the Commodores won 11–6, before dropping the second game, 4–5. In game three, Vanderbilt won, 12–5, to advance to the College World Series.

In the College World Series, Vanderbilt defeated Louisville and UC Irvine to advance to the semifinals and play Texas. In the first match-up with the Longhorns, the Commodores dropped their first game of the College World Series, losing 0–4. In the second game, the Commodores won 4–3 in ten innings, advancing to the College World Series finals to play Virginia.

Vanderbilt opened the finals against Virginia, the #3 national seed in the tournament, with a 9–8 victory. The Commodores proceeded to drop the second game, 2–7, before winning game three, 3–2. Vanderbilt were crowned national champions, their first championship in program history.

2015 Regular Season

After a slow start, the Commodores easily qualified for the 2015 Southeastern Conference tournament, where they finished second to the Florida Gators. They then played host to the 2015 NCAA Nashville Regional, where they defeated Lipscomb University and Radford University, the latter by a record-tying shutout score of 21-0. (The University of Indiana also participated, but were elminated by Radford and did not play the Commodores.) The Commodores then faced the University of Illinois in the NCAA Superegional, defeating them in a two-game sweep and advancing to the College World Series,

2015 NCAA College World Series

In their opening-round game in the 2015 College World Series, Vanderbilt defeated Cal State Fullerton, 4–3, on a walkoff home run in the bottom of the ninth in a game that had been suspended due to rain the night before, advancing into the winners' bracket. In their second-round game, Vanderbilt defeated the number 7 national seed TCU, 1–0. Zander Wiel hit a home run in the 7th inning to score the lone run of the game and break up a no-hitter. Behind an offensive outburst and dominating performance behind the arm of Walker Buehler, the Commodores beat TCU 7–1 to advance to their second straight College World Series Championship Series. In game 1 of the championship series Vanderbilt defeated Virginia 5–1 thanks to an outing by Carson Fulmer. Virginia held Vanderbilt scoreless (3-0) for just the second time all year, forcing a winner-take-all third game for the national championship. The Cavaliers beat Vanderbilt 4–2 to win their first baseball national championship in program history.

Personnel

Roster

2015 Vanderbilt Commodores roster[1]
 

Pitchers

  • 13 - Walker Buehler - Junior
  • 15 - Carson Fulmer - Junior
  • 21 - John Kilichowski - Sophomore
  • 22 - Philip Pfeifer - Junior
  • 23 - Joey Abraham - Freshman
  • 24 - Jordan Sheffield - Freshman
  • 28 - Matt Ruppenthal - Freshman
  • 31 - Ryan Johnson - Freshman
  • 32 - Hayden Stone - Sophomore
  • 34 - Brendan Spagnuolo - Freshman
  • 35 - Ben Bowden - Sophomore
  • 40 - Collin Snider - Freshman
  • 44 - Kyle Wright - Freshman
  • 45 - Tyler Ferguson - Junior
  

Catchers

  • 5 - Jason Delay - Sophomore
  • 25 - Karl Ellison - Sophomore
  • 33 - Tristan Chari - Freshman

Infielders

  • 2 - Tyler Campbell - Junior
  • 7 - Dansby Swanson - Junior
  • 10 - Will Toffey - Freshman
  • 11 - Liam Sabino - Freshman
  • 16 - Penn Murfee - Freshman
  • 19 - Joey Mundy - Freshman
  • 36 - Aubrey McCarty - Freshman
  • 43 - Zander Wiel - Junior
  • 55 - Tyler Green - Freshman
  

Outfielders

  • 1 - Ro Coleman - Sophomore
  • 3 - Jeren Kendall - Freshman
  • 6 - Drake Parker - Freshman
  • 8 - Rhett Wiseman - Junior
  • 18 - Nolan Rogers - Sophomore
  • 20 - Bryan Reynolds - Sophomore
  • 39 - Kyle Smith - Junior
  

Coaching staff

Name Position Seasons at
Vanderbilt		 Alma mater
Tim Corbin Head coach 13 Ohio Wesleyan University (1984)
Scott Brown Assistant coach 3 SUNY Cortland (1999)
Travis Jewett Assistant coach 3 Washington State University (1993)

Schedule

Legend
 Vanderbilt win
 Vanderbilt loss
 Postponement
BoldVanderbilt team member
2015 Vanderbilt Commodores Game Log
Regular Season
February
Date Opponent Rank Site/Stadium Score Win Loss Save Attendance Overall Record SEC Record
February 13 Santa Clara #1 Hawkins Field • Nashville, TN 4–0 Fulmer (1–0) Steffens (0–1) 2,958 1–0
February 14 Santa Clara #1 Hawkins Field • Nashville, TN 6–7 Karalus (1–0) Stone (0–1) 2,754 1–1
February 14 Santa Clara #1 Hawkins Field • Nashville, TN 6–5 (10) Sheffield (1–0) Karalus (1–1) 2,754 2–1
February 18 at Belmont #2 E. S. Rose Park • Nashville, TN Postponed Rescheduled for April 28
February 20 vs. Indiana State #2 Charlotte Sports Park • Port Charlotte, FL 3–2 Bowden (1–0) Keaffaber (0–1) NA 3–1
February 21 vs. Indiana State #2 Charlotte Sports Park • Port Charlotte, FL 1–8 Degano (2–0) Stone (0–2) NA 3–2
February 22 vs. Indiana State #2 Charlotte Sports Park • Port Charlotte, FL 6–0 Wright (1–0) Kuhlman (0–2) NA 4–2
February 24 Tennessee–Martin #4 Hawkins Field • Nashville, TN 16-3 Shaw (1-2) Shaw (0-1) 2,365 5-2
February 25 WKU #4 Hawkins Field • Nashville, TN 10-6 Pfeifer (1-0) Pearson (0-2) 2,405 6-2
February 27 Illinois State #4 Hawkins Field • Nashville, TN 16-1 Fulmer (2-0) Headean (1-1) 2,409 7-2
February 28 Illinois State #4 Hawkins Field • Nashville, TN 3-2 Kilichowski (1-0) Hendren (1-1) 2,502 8-2
Post-season
NCAA Tournament: Nashville Regional
Date Opponent Site/Stadium Score Win Loss Save Attendance Overall Record NCAAT Record
May 29 (4) Lipscomb Hawkins Field • Nashville, TN 11–0 Fulmer (12–2) Martinez (7–4) 3,626 43–19 1–0
May 30 (3) Indiana Hawkins Field • Nashville, TN 6–4 Bowden (6–1) Harrison (4–2) Wright (2) 3,626 44–19 2–0
June 1 (2) Radford Hawkins Field • Nashville, TN 21-0 Buehler (4–2) MacKeith (7-5) 3,626 45–19 3–0
NCAA Tournament: Champaign Super Regional
Date Opponent Site/Stadium Score Win Loss Save Attendance Overall Record NCAAT Record
June 6 (6) Illinois Illinois Field • Champaign, IL 13-0 Fulmer (13-2) Duchene 11-2 3,605 46-19 4-0
June 8 (6) Illinois Illinois Field • Champaign, IL 4-2 Pfeifer (5-4) Jay (5-2) Wright (3) 3,767 47-19 5-0
College World Series
Date Opponent Site/Stadium Score Win Loss Save Attendance Overall Record CWS Record
June 14/15 Cal State Fullerton TD Ameritrade Park • Omaha, NE 4-3 Wright 6-1 Peitzmeier (5-4) 21,674 48-19 1-0
June 16 (7) TCU TD Ameritrade Park • Omaha, NE 1-0 Pfeifer (6-4) Young (9-3) Wright (4) 24,156 49-19 2-0
June 19 (7) TCU TD Ameritrade Park • Omaha, NE 7-1 Buehler (5-2) Alexander (6-3) 26,011 50-19 3-0
June 22 Virginia TD Ameritrade Park • Omaha, NE 5-1 Fulmer (14-2) Jones (7-3) 21,652 51-19 4-0
June 23 Virginia TD Ameritrade Park • Omaha, NE 0-3 Sborz (7-2) Pfeifer (6-5) 24,645 51-20 4-1
June 24 Virginia TD Ameritrade Park • Omaha, NE 2-4 Waddell (5-5) Kilichowski (3-4) Kirby (1) 17,689 51-21 4-2

All rankings from Collegiate Baseball.

Rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking.
NR = Not ranked. RV = Received votes. ( ) = First place votes.
Week
Poll Pre 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Final 
Coaches' 1 1* 1 4 5 5 3 3 2 4 9 6 8 10 9 9 9 9  
Baseball America 1 1 1 1 5 4 2 1 1 5 8 6 6 7 7 5 5 5  
Collegiate Baseball^ 1 2 4 4 7 5 3 3 2 7 14 9 11 10 7 8 7 5  
NCBWA† 1 3 5 5 6 4 2 1 1 5 9 7 9 11 10 9 7 7

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

Awards and honors

Carson Fulmer
Walker Buehler
Dansby Swanson
Zander Wiel
Rhett Wiseman
Bryan Reynolds
Ro Coleman
Jeren Kendall
Will Toffey
Kyle Wright

Commodores in the MLB Draft

For more details on this topic, see 2015 Major League Baseball Draft.
Round Selection Player Position Team
1 1 Dansby Swanson SS Arizona Diamondbacks
1 8 Carson Fulmer RHP Chicago White Sox
1 24 Walker Buehler RHP Los Angeles Dodgers
3 101 Phillip Pfeifer LHP Los Angeles Dodgers
3 103 Rhett Wiseman OF Washington Nationals
6 168 Tyler Ferguson RHP Texas Rangers
12 350 Zander Wiel 1B Minnesota Twins
19 558 Xavier Turner 3B Texas Rangers
39 1,163 John Kilichowski LHP Chicago Cubs

References

  1. ↑ "Official Baseball Roster". Vanderbilt Commodores. Retrieved January 27, 2015.
  2. ↑ "NCAA Div. I Pre-Season All-Americans". Collegiate Baseball Newspaper. Retrieved January 27, 2015.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "Preseason College All-Americans". Perfect Game USA. Retrieved January 27, 2015.
  4. 1 2 3 "2015 College Preview: All-America Teams". Baseball America. Retrieved February 2, 2015.
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