Tag: Vanderbilt Commodores

Photo Gallery: Oregon comes home as Nashville Regional champs

Photo Gallery: Oregon upset No. 6 Vanderbilt and then defeated Xavier to win the Nashville Regional in the NCAA baseball tournament.

The college baseball season has been one wild ride and the Oregon Ducks made sure that ride continued by winning the Nashville Regional.

Oregon defeated Xavier, upset No. 6 Vanderbilt, and then Xavier again to move on to the Super Regional where the Ducks will host Oral Roberts this weekend at PK Park.

The Ducks put everything on display with home runs, clutch hitting, spectacular game-saving defensive play, and some gutsy pitching performances to win the regional.

There were even a couple of lightning strikes during the Vanderbilt-Xavier game Sunday afternoon. But it seems has if Oregon channeled the lightning in order to win and they hope it strikes twice at PK Park to move on to the College World Series in Omaha.

Twitter Reactions: Oregon fans react to Ducks’ thrilling win over Vanderbilt in regional

Twitter Reactions: Oregon fans react to Ducks’ thrilling win over Vanderbilt in regional

The Oregon Ducks are nothing if not interesting, to say the least.

After ending the regular season on a high note by winning the Pac-12 Tournament championship, they got a bid into the Nashville Regional where the hot play has continued.

On Friday night, Oregon beat Xavier in impressive fashion, and they picked up another massive victory on Saturday night against the host team Vanderbilt, surviving a two-run rally in the ninth inning to win 8-7.

The Ducks are now in a prime position, needing just one win on Sunday night — against either Xavier or Vanderbilt — to get to advance to a Super Regional. Should the Ducks lose on Sunday night, they will have another opportunity to advance on Monday.

With such a massive win, Duck fans on social media were exuberant on Saturday. Here are some of the best reactions from Twitter:

Ducks hold on to defeat Vanderbilt to advance to regional final

Oregon advances to the Nashville Regional final with an 8-7 victory over 6-seed Vanderbilt.

Should Oregon advance to the Super Regional, the Ducks are going to remember this play by third baseman Sabin Ceballos.

The junior college transfer, who has led Oregon with his bat, turned in the defensive play of the year for the Ducks. Ceballos’ barehanded play to get Alan Espinal by literally a quarter of a step erased Vanderbilt’s rally in the seventh inning.

Oregon then went on to defeat the Commodores 8-7 and advance to the Nashville Regional final. Vanderbilt will now play Xavier in an elimination game at 12 pm PST and the winner of that contest will play Oregon at 6 pm and they’ll have to defeat the Ducks twice in order to win the regional.

Game 7 of the regional would be played Monday if Oregon loses Sunday night.

After two innings of play, it was 4-4 and the thought of Turner Spoljaric going six wasn’t looking good for the freshman. But once RJ Scheck hit a homer that seemingly went five miles to tie the game at 4-4, Spoljaric settled down and retired the next nine straight Commodores.

The Ducks were able to grab the lead in the fifth on Ceballos’ run-scoring single and later in the inning, Jacob Walsh lined a double to left-center that scored three runs to give Oregon an 8-4 advantage.

Vanderbilt managed to put together a small rally in the six by putting on the first two hitters and Spoljaric looked like he was at the end of his rope. But the Duck pitcher was able to retire the next three hitters.

Everything was calm in the eighth with Matt Dallas pitching a perfect inning, but the ninth created some excitement that Oregon did not need.

Closer Josh Mollerus made it interesting, to say the least as he allowed a 2-run homer off of the bat of Chris Maldonado. It was 8-7 and Oregon still needed two outs. Fortunately, Mollerus coaxed fly balls to centerfielder Colby Shade and that huge exhale came from the Oregon dugout.

Now the Ducks are 27 outs from going to a Super Regional for the first time since 2012.

Oregon Ducks Regional Preview: Vanderbilt Commodores

An outstanding March where they finished 18-2, Vanderbilt earned its No. 6 national seed by winning the SEC tournament.

When it comes to the NCAA baseball tournament, having a regional in Nashville is pretty much a sure thing.

Vanderbilt has hosted a regional nine times and the Commodores are making their 17th straight postseason appearance. Vandy, as the No. 6 national seed, would host a Super Regional should it advance.

The Commodores finished second in the SEC West Division with a 19-11 record, one game behind Florida. But Vandy was able to win the SEC tournament, including an 11-6 win in the semifinals before beating Texas A&M for the title.

That victory solidified Vanderbilt’s national seed and gave it an overall mark of 40-18. Nearly half of those wins came in March where Vandy got on a major roll and finished 18-2 for the month.

Surprisingly, not one Commodore player was an All-SEC First-Teamer, but three made the Second Team (outfielder Enrique Bradfield Jr., starting pitcher Devin Futrell and reliever Nick Maldonado) with two making the All-Defensive Team (Bradfield and third baseman Davis Diaz) and RJ Austin was on the All-Freshman squad.

Austin, a second baseman, finished the regular season with a .267 batting average with seven home runs and 42 runs batted in. Vandy is led by RJ Scheck with his .309 average, 13 homers and 57 RBIs.

Bradfield hit .286 for the season with six homers and 33 RBIs. Futrell, who is likely to start in Game 1 of the regional, was 7-3 with a 3.44 earned run average. Maldonado was the Commodores’ closer as he had eight saves and a 1.45 ERA.

Vanderbilt isn’t going to outslug anyone, but it’s not going to beat itself either in the field. The Commodores made just 38 errors all season. By comparison, Oregon, which is considered a very good defensive team, committed 50 errors.

The Nashville Regional begins for Vanderbilt at 4 pm PST as they play 4-seed Eastern Illinois on the SEC Network.

Oregon Ducks Regional Preview: Eastern Illinois Panthers

Eastern Illinois was able to upset three higher seeded teams to win the OVC tournament and make its way into the Nashville Regional.

Playing must-win games might become a bit old for the Eastern Illinois Panthers baseball team.

After finishing fifth in the Ohio Valley Conference, EIU had to win three straight games, including a 6-5 win over regular-season champion Morehead State to win the conference tourney and earn a bid into the NCAA tournament.

The Panthers reward for the upset? A date with the No. 6 national seed Vanderbilt Commodores in Nashville. But considering their season was on the brink, Eastern Illinois would have welcomed playing the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field if it meant continuing the season.

EIU enters the NCAA Tournament with a 38-19 overall record and the 38 wins ranking as the most in program history. EIU’s previous two trips to the NCAA Tournament were in 1999 at the Waco Regional (hosted by Baylor) and 2008 at the Lincoln Regional (hosted by Nebraska). The Panthers are 1-4 all-time in the tourney.

Eastern Illinois placed three players on the Ohio Valley Conference first team this year with utility player Ryan Ignoffo (.336, 15 homers, 59 runs batted in), starting pitcher Ky Hampton (7-2, 4.33 earned run average) and closer Zane Robbins (seven saves, 1.38 ERA).

Ignoffo also pitches and was named as one of the top 5 two-way players in the country with his 4.71 ERA and four saves.

The Panthers and Commodores play Friday at 4 pm PST and will be live on the SEC Network.

NCAA goes for history by sending Oregon to the Nashville Regional

For the second time in nearly a decade, Oregon baseball will make its way to Nashville to play in NCAA tournament regional action.

We’ve been here before, correct?

The NCAA baseball tournament committee is sending Oregon to the Nashville Regional where the 2-seeded Ducks will open up with 3-seed Xavier.

The Ducks have been to Nashville before. It was the 2014 season when Oregon was bounced out by the host Commodores.

Way back in February, it was the Ducks and Musketeers meeting in the opening series of the season at PK Park where the Ducks swept the four-game series.

Host Vanderbilt and Eastern Illinois make up the rest of the regional, which begins Friday on ESPN+.

Vandy is the National 6-seed with a record of 41-18 and won the SEC tournament. Eastern Illinois comes into the regional 38-19 and they also won their conference tournament.

Xavier rebounded nicely after that early trip to Eugene and finished 37-23 on the season.

Half of the regional sites belong to SEC schools with 8-seeded Stanford being the only West Coast team to host. Oregon State was sent to the Baton Rouge Regional (LSU) and will play Sam Houston State.

Washington was sent to the Stillwater Regional (Oklahoma State) and will open the tourney with Dallas Baptist.

Should Oregon and Washington win their regional, the Ducks and Huskies would meet in a Super Regional with a trip to Omaha on the line.

Arizona was on the bubble and after a good May that included making the Pac-12 tournament final before losing to the Ducks, was rewarded with a Fayetteville Regional (Arkansas) appearance. The Wildcats will face TCU.

Vanderbilt completes rare feat with SEC Tournament win over Florida

Vanderbilt completed a rare feat on Saturday when the Commodores defeated the Florida Gators in the SEC semifinals.

The Vanderbilt Commodores with a win against the Florida Gators in the SEC Baseball Tournament semifinals completed a rare feat in school history,

With the win on Saturday, the Commodores for the first time in nearly 50 years defeated the Gators in football, basketball, and baseball all in the same academic year. The last time that Vanderbilt had done so was in the 1974-1975 academic year.

Back in November, Vanderbilt defeated Florida on the gridiron 31-24 after establishing a 28-12 lead through the first three quarters of play. The Gators would make a late push in the game but would end up falling short in the comeback attempt.

Then in February, the Commodores defeated the Gators on the hardwood not once but twice, winning 88-80 on February 11 and 88-72 on February 25.

For Vanderbilt baseball, it took several chances to finally get the Gators. Earlier this month, the Commodores traveled to Gainesville but wound up getting swept in their three-game series, being outscored in the three games 22-2. Then on Thursday, in their second game in the SEC Tournament, the Commodores would be bested by the Gators once again 6-3.

However, on Saturday, the fifth time was the charm for Vanderbilt. After scoring just five runs total in their first four matchups against Florida, Vanderbilt’s bats exploded for 11 runs on 12 hits en route to an 11-6 victory.

The Commodores will now play for an SEC Championship on Sunday against Texas A&M.

Ugly start dooms Florida in SEC Tournament semifinals

Well… the fifth time was the charm for Vanderbilt. The Commodores humbled the Gators in the SEC Tournament semifinals to end Florida’s run.

It’s been a while since we’ve since this version of Jac Caglianone.

Florida’s two-way superstar had put-together back-to-back quality starts coming into Saturday’s SEC Tournament semifinal matchup against Vanderbilt, but Caglianone couldn’t make it out of the second after the Commodores got to him for six runs. Vanderbilt stayed on top all night long holding off the Florida bats for an 11-6 victory and championship-game berth.

In fairness to Caglianone, a pair of early errors extended the first inning and led to things spiraling. Once the Commodores got going, it was hard to stop them. Nick Ficarrotta ended up giving up another four runs in the third to make it 10-1.

Tyler Nesbitt, Blake Purnell, Chris Arroyo and Fisher Jameson all worked in relief. Nesbitt fave up one unearned run and the rest kept Vanderbilt off the bases for the most part.

Making up a 10-run deficit isn’t easy, though. Luke Heyman, Cade Kurland and Wyatt Langford all hit home runs to cut into the lead, but the rest of the lineup wasted too many opportunities with runners in scoring position to come out on top. BT Riopelle drove in two runs as well.

Florida still owns a co-share of the regular season champion title, but it will be either Texas A&M or Vanderbilt that comes out on top of the conference tournament. Once that game is played on Sunday, most of the conference will wait to find out where they are seeded in the national tournament.

Florida should be a top-3 seed in the 2023 NCAA Tournament, and Kevin O’Sullivan just saw what can go wrong in a playoff setting. There is still time to make some tweaks, but this loss might be a bad omen for the club.

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How to Watch: Florida baseball vs Vanderbilt Commodores in SEC Tournament Semifinals

Take a look at everything you need to know about Saturday’s semifinals action in the SEC Tournament.

Florida baseball won the opening game of its 2023 Southeastern Conference Tournament endeavor on Wednesday night, 7-6, in walk-off fashion after 11 innings of play. Then the Gators beat the Vanderbilt Commodores on Thursday, 6-3.

The Orange and Blue once again face off with Vandy on Saturday, May 27, at the Hoover Metropolitan Stadium in Hoover, Alabama, for the semifinals of the SEC Tournament.

The Orange and Blue swept Vandy at home in a three-game weekend series from March 12-14, run-ruling the opposition in the opener while earning the victory in the next two by a 6-2 score. The ‘Dores, however, are the No. 4 seed in this tournament and still put together a solid regular-season run, so anything can happen.

Take a look below at everything you need to know about Saturday afternoon’s Florida-Vanderbilt matchup in the 2023 SEC Tournament.

Game Preview: Florida facing Vanderbilt for 5th time in SEC Tournament Semifinals

The Florida Gators are just one game away from another SEC Tournament Championship Game and only the Vanderbilt Commodores stand in their way.

Florida and Vanderbilt will square off for a fifth time this season to determine which club heads to the SEC Tournament Championship Game on Sunday. Florida has won all four games in the series this season, most recently a 6-2 win on Thursday thanks to a pair of BT Riopelle homers. Naturally, the Gators are the favorites heading into the weekend.

Vanderbilt is an arm deeper into its rotation, too, after playing a game against Alabama on Friday to make it into the semifinals. Florida should throw Jac Caglianone, who started his streak of quality starts against the Commodores a couple of weeks ago.

Odds are that Vanderbilt won’t throw to Riopelle a ton, but they might have to if the top of the order — Wyatt Lanford, Caglianone and Josh Rivera — can put some offense together ahead of him.

A win would put Florida in the championship game of the tournament. UF would face either Arkansas or Texas A&M. That game will be played ahead of Florida’s contest, so the team will know what its playing for.

First pitch is set for roughly 4:00 p.m. EDT on Saturday. Here’s a look at both teams.