Tim Corbin details Vanderbilt's approach to pitching in SEC Tournament

The Vanderbilt offense stole the show during their impressive SEC Tournament run that ended in a 10-4 championship win over Texas A&M. The bats were hot all tournament for the Commodores, as they recorded four straight 10-plus hit games matching an SEC Tournament record.

But the Commodores’ bullpen also came up big when it mattered most, and following their championship win, Vanderbilt head coach Tim Corbin puled back the curtain on his pitching approach throughout the tourney.

“Well, we had a script,” Corbin said. “We had seven guys that could have pitched, and I think it just became, we wanted to make sure that we did things deliberately and from a health standpoint that would put them in a good position to come back.”

Given the championship implications on the line, Horn used five of those seven pitchers in the championship game on Sunday. Junior right-hander Patrick Reilly took on the majority of the workload on the mound, pitching four innings and recording four strikeouts on the day in relief of Sam Hliboki. And when Reilly started to lose some steam, several other pitchers picked up the slack just like he did for Hliboki.

“This game has a lot of meaning, and we wanted to win it but win it not at all costs from a health perspective from the kids. It was one of those things that if they were efficient, we would let them go,” Corbin said.

Corbin elaborated on the performance of Reilly and Hliboki, also chiming on on the relief work of Bryce Cunningham, Thomas Schultz, and Nick Maldonado down the stretch.

“I think Patrick was efficient. Sam gave us what he had for two innings. Patrick came in and gave us four strong innings. Bryce came in for a blank, Thomas grabbed the ball again on short rest and pitched very well and then Nick finishing up, and we had decided to go with Nick in that last inning if it was a one-run game. Then we put five on the scoreboard at that time,” Corbin said.

Vanderbilt’s five-run scoring outburst in the bottom of the eighth inning gave the Commodores a safe cushion heading into the ninth, as Maldonado forced a ground ball to shortstop Jonathan Vastine which turned into a game-sealing double play that triggered an all-out celebration in Mobile.

“I’m glad we got that double play at the end, because you do that, it’s a bullet saver, and that was good for us,” Corbin said.

Vandy now has their sight set on the NCAA Tournament, as they host George Mason Friday in the Winston-Salem Regional at 7 p.m. ET in a game airing on ESPN+.