KSR's 2025 SEC Baseball Preview: Vanderbilt

With the 2025 College Baseball season just around the corner, KSR will be previewing all 15 SEC teams that will be competing with Kentucky for an SEC crown this season. Up next; the Vanderbilt Commodores.

Legendary head coach Tim Corbin returns for his 23rd season at Vanderbilt. The ‘Dores will look to get back to the Men’s College World Series for the first time since 2021, as their three season Omaha drought is its longest since the 2016-2018 span.

The 2024 season was a respectable one for Vanderbilt, as it finished with a 38-23 (13-17) record and made its 18th consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance. They however went 0-2 and were bounced out of the Clemson Regional by No. 3 seed Coastal Carolina and No. 4 seed High Point. They’ve failed to reach a Super Regional in three straight seasons.

Returning Players:

• Jr. UTIL RJ Austin (2024: 60 G, .335 AVG, 14 2B, 5 HR, 54 RBI, .471 SLG%, .402 OBP%)
• Sr. INF Jonathan Vastine (2024: 60 G, .299 AVG, 18 2B, 10 HR, 42 RBI, .545 SLG%, .384 OBP%)
• Jr. INF Jayden Davis (2024: 46 G, .315 AVG, 12 2B, 2 HR, 36 RBI, .435 SLG%, .394 OBP%)
• Sr. UTIL Jacob Humphrey (2024: 40 G, .227 AVG, 2 2B, 2 HR, 9 RBI, .455 SLG%, .346 OBP%)
• So. INF Braden Holcomb (2024: 35 G, .252 AVG, 7 2B, 5 HR, 17 RBI, .466 SLG%, .345 OBP%)
• So. C Colin Barczi (2024: 29 G, .208 AVG, 2 2B, 2 HR, 8 RBI, .319 SLG%, .298 OBP%)
• Sr. OF JD Rogers (2024: 16 G, .333 AVG, 0 2B, 1 HR, 1 RBI, .533 SLG%, .474 OBP%)
• Jr. INF Chris Maldonado (2024: 5 G, .154 AVG, 0 2B, 0 HR, 1 RBI, .154 SLG%, .450 OBP%)

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• Jr. LHP JD Thompson (2024: 14 APP, 12 GS, 5-2, 4.15 ERA, 52 IP, 74 K, 18 BB, .245 B/AVG)
• So. RHP Brennan Seiber (2024: 23 APP, 1 GS, 3-0, 5.06 ERA, 42 2/3 IP, 37 K, 12 BB, .226 B/AVG)
• So. LHP Miller Green (2024: 20 APP, 0 GS, 2-4, 3.16 ERA, 31 1/3 IP, 34 K, 9 BB, .232 B/AVG)
• Sr. LHP Ryan Ginther (2024: 22 APP, 0 GS, 1-0, 5.70 ERA, 30 IP, 31 K, 16 BB, .255 B/AVG)
• So. LHP Ethan McElvain (2024: 11 APP, 4 GS, 1-2, 3.24 ERA, 25 IP, 29 K, 15 BB, .227 B/AVG)
• So. RHP Alex Kranzler (2024: 14 APP, 0 GS, 0-1, 4.43 ERA, 20 1/3 IP, 24 K, 11 BB, .182 B/AVG)
• So. RHP Luke Guth (2024: 12 APP, 0 GS, 1-2, 5.40 ERA, 18 1/3 IP, 20 K, 9 BB, .224 B/AVG)
• Jr. LHP Levi Huesman (2024: 10 APP, 0 GS, 1-0, 6.00 ERA, 12 IP, 13 K, 10 BB, .298 B/AVG)
• Sr. RHP Sawyer Hawks (2024: 5 APP, 0 GS, 2-0, 10.50 ERA, 6 IP, 9 K, 7 BB, .304 B/AVG)

Departing Players:

• Jr. INF Davis Diaz (2024: 61 G, .248 AVG, 10 2B, 7 HR, 39 RBI, .385 SLG%, .350 OBP% – 8th Round of 2024 MLB Draft)
• Sr. C Alan Espinal (2024: 59 G, .289 AVG, 15 2B, 13 HR, 49 RBI, .545 SLG%, .398 OBP% – 11th Round of 2024 MLB Draft)
• Sr. OF Calvin Hewett (2024: 54 G, .295 AVG, 6 2B, 2 HR, 22 RBI, .426 SLG%, .419 OBP% – Graduated)
• Jr. UTIL Matthew Polk (2024: 52 G, .316 AVG, 16 2B, 5 HR, 21 RBI, .492 SLG%, .372 OBP%)
• 5th Yr. OF Troy LaNeve (2024: 49 G, .265 AVG, 14 2B, 6 HR, 33 RBI, .510 SLG%, .384 OBP% – Graduated)
• Fr. INF Cam Kozeal (2024: 43 G, .284 AVG, 8 2B, 5 HR, 28 RBI, .439 SLG%, .349 OBP% – Transferred to Arkansas)
• Sr. C Jack Bulger (2024: 30 G, .289 AVG, 1 2B, 3 HR, 16 RBI, .421 SLG%, .371 OBP% – Graduated)
• So. C Logan Poteet (2024: 11 G, .207 AVG, 0 2B, 3 HR, 10 RBI, .517 SLG%, .226 OBP% – Transferred to Charlotte)
• Fr. INF Matt Ossenfort (2024: 6 G, .182 AVG, 1 2B, 1 HR, 1 RBI, .545 SLG%, .250 OBP% – Transferred to NC State)
• So. INF Ray Velazquez (2024: 3 G, 1.000 AVG, 0 2B, 0 HR, 0 RBI, 1.000 SLG%, 1.000 OBP%) – Transfer Portal)

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• Jr. RHP Bryce Cunningham (2024: 16 APP, 16 GS, 7-4, 4.36 ERA, 84 2/3 IP, 96 K, 34 BB, .217 B/AVG- 2nd Round of 2024 MLB Draft)
• Jr. LHP Carter Holton (2024: 15 APP, 13 GS, 6-5, 5.19 ERA, 69 1/3 IP, 98 K, 27 BB, .235 B/AVG – 2nd Round of 2024 MLB Draft)
• Jr. LHP Devin Futrell (2024: 12 APP, 10 GS, 4-1, 5.40 ERA, 48 1/3 IP, 44 K, 10 BB, .283 B/AVG – 10th Round of 2024 MLB Draft)
• Jr. RHP Greysen Carter (2024: 18 APP, 4 GS, 4-2, 6.58 ERA, 39 2/3 IP, 38 K, 31 BB, .250 B/AVG – 5th Round of 2024 MLB Draft)
• 5th Yr. RHP Sam Hilboki (2024: 13 APP, 0 GS, 1-0, 9.64 ERA, 23 1/3 IP, 25 K, 9 BB, .337 B/AVG – Transferred to Northwestern)
• So. RHP Andrew Dutkaynch IV (2024: 5 APP, 1 GS, 0-0, 3.38 ERA, 10 2/3 IP, 14 K, 6 BB, .189 B/AVG – 7th Round of 2024 MLB Draft)
• So. RHP David Horn Jr. (2024: 10 APP, 0 GS, 0-0, 10.00 ERA, 9 IP, 9 K, 11 BB, .222 B/AVG – Transferred to San Diego)

Incoming Transfers:

• Jr. INF Mike Mancini (2024: 61 G, 10 2B, 15 HR, 49 RBI, .586 SLG%, .419 OBP% – Transferred from James Madison)
• So. C Mac Rose (2024: 55 G, .354 AVG, 12 2B, 7 HR, 35 RBI, .540 SLG%, .420 OBP% – Transferred from McLennan College)
• Jr. INF Riley Nelson (2024: 54 G, .412 AVG, 21 2B, 13 HR, 55 RBI, .788 SLG%, .495 OBP% – Transferred from Yavapai College)
• So. UTIL David Mendez (2024: 51 G, .342 AVG, 9 2B, 6 HR, 49 RBI, .505 SLG%, .442 OBP% – Transferred from Dayton)

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• So. RHP Connor Fennell (2024: 15 APP, 12 GS, 4-4, 4.74 ERA, 74 IP, 66 K, 13 BB, .261 B/AVG – Transferred from Dayton)
• Jr. RHP Cody Bowker (2024: 13 APP, 8 GS, 5-1, 3.00 ERA, 48 IP, 59 K, 20 BB, .230 B/AVG – Transferred from Georgetown)
• Gr. RHP Tommy O’Rourke (2024: 30 APP, 2 GS, 3-5, 4.41 ERA, 32 2/3 IP, 35 K, 16 BB, .218 B/AVG – Transferred from Stanford)

Vanderbilt returns some star power in Preseason All-SEC Second Team selections outfielder RJ Austin and left-handed pitcher Miller Green, but the Dores were wrecked in the offseason by the MLB Draft and Transfer Portal. Vandy had seven players selected in the Draft (five pitchers) and six players enter the Portal, including freshman stud Cam Kozeal.

Tim Corbin and his staff dove deep into the Transfer Portal, fishing players from universities such as McLennan College and Yavapai College. They brought in just seven players, with just one coming from a power-four program (Stanford).

Vanderbilt, who opens the season ranked No. 16 in the country, is scheduled to face five SEC teams present in D1Baseball’s Preseason Top 25 Rankings this season (No. 1 Texas A&M, at No. 4 Tennessee, No. 5 Arkansas, No. 8 Georgia, at No. 10 Florida).

Kentucky will travel to Vanderbilt the weekend of May 15-17 for its final weekend series of the season. The Wildcats took care of the Commodores last season in Lexington, taking two of three from Vanderbilt to clinch a share of their second ever SEC Regular Season Championship. Kentucky is 152-158-5 all-time against the Commodores.