2020 Vanderbilt Commodores baseball team

The 2020 Vanderbilt Commodores baseball team represented Vanderbilt University in the 2020 NCAA Division I baseball season. Vanderbilt competed in the Eastern Division of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). The Commodores played their home games at Hawkins Field. Coach Tim Corbin led the Commodores in his 18th season with the program.

2020 Vanderbilt Commodores baseball
Conference	Southeastern Conference
	Eastern Division
Ranking
Coaches	No. 7
CB	No. 5
2020 record	13–5 (0–0 SEC)
Head coach	Tim Corbin (18th season)
Assistant coaches	Mike Baxter Scott Brown
Home stadium	Hawkins Field

2020 Southeastern Conference baseball standings
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
Eastern
No. 1 Florida  ‍‍‍	0	–	0		–			16	–	1		.941
Tennessee  ‍‍‍	0	–	0		–			15	–	2		.882
No. 3 Georgia  ‍‍‍	0	–	0		–			14	–	4		.778
South Carolina  ‍‍‍	0	–	0		–			12	–	4		.750
No. 6 Vanderbilt  ‍‍‍	0	–	0		–			13	–	5		.722
Missouri •  ‍‍‍	0	–	0		–			11	–	5		.688
Kentucky  ‍‍‍	0	–	0		–			11	–	6		.647
Western
No. 8 Ole Miss  ‍‍‍	0	–	0		–			16	–	1		.941
Alabama  ‍‍‍	0	–	0		–			16	–	1		.941
Texas A&M  ‍‍‍	0	–	0		–			15	–	3		.833
No. 17 Mississippi State  ‍‍‍	0	–	0		–			11	–	4		.733
No. 18 Auburn  ‍‍‍	0	–	0		–			13	–	5		.722
No. 19 LSU  ‍‍‍	0	–	0		–			12	–	5		.706
No. 14 Arkansas  ‍‍‍	0	–	0		–			11	–	5		.688
‡ – Tournament champion – ineligible for postseason due to NCAA sanctions As of January 24, 2021[1]; Rankings from D1Baseball

Vanderbilt began the 2020 season with high hopes, having secured the second highest-rated recruit class for the season.[2] In addition, the Commodores were highly ranked in preseason and subsequent polls, beginning at #1 according to the preseason ESPN/USA Today Coaches poll and closing at #7 on March 16, the final ranking.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the future of the 2020 college baseball season - and the seasons of all spring sports - became unclear. On March 12, Vanderbilt University declared that all spring sports were suspended for the remainder of the season.[3] On March 30, the NCAA canceled the upcoming College World Series,[4] but announced that senior spring athletes would have the opportunity to return to school for the 2021 spring season if they wished.[5]

Previous season

The Commodores finished 59–12 overall, and 23–7 in the conference. The Commodores were National Champions in 2019.

Personnel

Roster

2020 Vanderbilt Commodores roster[6]
	Pitchers 21 - Tyler Brown - Junior 22 - Jack Leiter - Freshman 27 - Ethan Smith - Sophomore 29 - Nick Maldonado - Freshman 32 - Hugh Fisher - Junior 33 - Erik Kaiser - Junior 35 - Chris McElvain - Freshman 39 - Jake Eder - Junior 40 - Sam Hliboki - Freshman 43 - Michael Doolin - Freshman 44 - Mason Hickman - Junior 45 - Chance Huff - Sophomore 49 - Ryan Keenan - Freshman 50 - Luke Murphy - Freshman 66 - Thomas Schultz - Freshman 80 - Kumar Rocker - Sophomore		Catchers 5 - CJ Rodriguez - Freshman 20 - Ty Duvall - Senior 55 - Maxwell Romero Jr. - Freshman Infielders 2 - Harrison Ray - Senior 9 - Carter Young - Freshman 25 - Parker Noland - Freshman 30 - Sterling Hayes - Sophomore 99 - Jayson Gonzalez - Junior		Outfielders 3 - Cooper Davis - Junior 6 - Tate Kolwyck - Sophomore 8 - Isaiah Thomas - Sophomore 11 - Matt Hogan - Sophomore 19 - Troy LaNeve - Freshman Utility 10 - T.J. McKenzie - Freshman 12 - Dominic Keegan - Sophomore 16 - Austin Martin - Junior 18 - Will Duff - Freshman 34 - Spencer Jones - Freshman 42 - Justyn-Henry Malloy - Sophomore

Coaching Staff

2020 Vanderbilt Commodores coaching staff[6]
Name	Position	Seasons at Vanderbilt	Alma Mater
Tim Corbin	Head Coach	18	Ohio Wesleyan (1984)
Scott Brown	Associate Head Coach	8	Cortland (1999)
Mike Baxter	Assistant Coach	3	Vanderbilt (2006)
David Macias	Volunteer Coach	3	Vanderbilt (2008)

Schedule and results

Legend
	Vanderbilt win
	Vanderbilt loss
	Cancellation
Bold	Vanderbilt team member

2020 Vanderbilt Commodores Baseball Game Log
Regular Season (13-5)
February Date Opponent Rank (CB) Site/Stadium Score Win Loss Save TV Attendance Overall Record SEC Record February 14 vs. No. 13 Michigan No. 2 Salt River Fields at Talking Stick Scottsdale, AZ L 3–4 B. Keizer (1–0) T. Brown (0–1) I. Paige (1) 4,500 0–1 February 15 vs. UConn No. 2 Salt River Fields at Talking Stick W 6–1 K. Rocker (1–0) E. Stock (0–1) S. Hliboki (1) 612 1–1 February 16 vs. Cal Poly No. 2 Salt River Fields at Talking Stick L 8–9 D. Nelson (1–0) T. Brown (0–2) 745 1–2 February 18 South Alabama No. 5 Hawkins Field Nashville, TN W 3–0 J. Leiter (1–0) M. Boswell (0–1) T. Schultz (1) 3,033 2–2 February 19 South Alabama No. 5 Hawkins Field W 4–0 E. Smith (1–0) C. Yarborough (0–1) M. Doolin (1) 3,058 3–2 February 21 UIC No. 5 Hawkins Field W 9–0 M. Hickman (1–0) J. Key (0–2) 3,146 4–2 February 22 UIC No. 5 Hawkins Field W 9–3 K. Rocker (2–0) N. Oliff (0–2) 3,381 5–2 February 23 UIC No. 5 Hawkins Field W 5–2 J. Eder (1–0) B. Nicholson (0–2) T. Brown (1) 3,208 6–2 February 25 Evansville No. 5 Hawkins Field W 6-0 J. Leiter (2-0) J. Meyer (0-1) 3,013 7-2 February 26 Saint Louis No. 5 Hawkins Field W 10-2 E. Smith (2-0) S. Youngbrandt (0-1) 3,012 8-2 February 28 Hawaii No. 5 Hawkins Field W 5-1 M. Hickman (2-0) L. Pouelsen 3,198 9-2 February 29 Hawaii No. 5 Hawkins Field L 1-3 A. Davenport (3-0) T. Schultz C. Loewen (1) 3,295 9-3
March Date Opponent Rank (CB) Site/Stadium Score Win Loss Save TV Attendance Overall Record SEC Record March 1 Hawaii No. 5 Hawkins Field W 7-5 (11) E. Kaiser (1-0) C. Loewen (0-1) 3,447 10-3 March 3 Central Arkansas No. 5 Hawkins Field W 10-2 M. Doolin (1-0) L. Gilbertson (1-2) 3,182 11-3 March 6 at No. 1 UCLA No. 5 Jackie Robinson Stadium Los Angeles, CA L 2-3 Z. Pettway (3-0) K. Rocker (2-1) H. Powell (3) 2,215 11-4 March 7 at USC No. 5 Dedeaux Field Los Angeles, CA L 1-2 J. Beller (3-0) J. Eder (1-1) B. Wanger (3) 1,507 11-5 March 8 vs. No. 18 TCU No. 5 Dedeaux Field W 4-3 T. Brown (1-2) D. Hill (2-1) 711 12-5 March 11 Toledo No. 7 Hawkins Field W 11-2 E. Smith (3-0) B. Todorowski (0-1) 3,015 13-5 March 13 Kentucky No. 7 Hawkins Field Canceled March 14 Kentucky No. 7 Hawkins Field Canceled March 15 Kentucky No. 7 Hawkins Field Canceled March 17 vs. Belmont First Horizon Park Nashville, TN Canceled March 20 at Tennessee Lindsey Nelson Stadium Knoxville, TN Canceled March 21 at Tennessee Lindsey Nelson Stadium Canceled March 22 at Tennessee Lindsey Nelson Stadium Canceled March 24 vs. Lipscomb First Horizon Park Canceled March 27 Georgia Hawkins Field Canceled March 28 Georgia Hawkins Field Canceled March 29 Georgia Hawkins Field Canceled March 31 Tennessee Tech Hawkins Field Canceled
April Date Opponent Rank (CB) Site/Stadium Score Win Loss Save TV Attendance Overall Record SEC Record April 2 at LSU Alex Box Stadium Baton Rouge, LA Canceled April 3 at LSU Alex Box Stadium Canceled April 4 at LSU Alex Box Stadium Canceled April 7 Western Kentucky Hawkins Field Canceled April 10 South Carolina Hawkins Field Canceled April 11 South Carolina Hawkins Field Canceled April 12 South Carolina Hawkins Field Canceled April 14 Indiana State Hawkins Field Canceled April 17 at Ole Miss Swayze Field Oxford, MS Canceled April 18 at Ole Miss Swayze Field Canceled April 19 at Ole Miss Swayze Field Canceled April 24 Alabama Hawkins Field Canceled April 25 Alabama Hawkins Field Canceled April 26 Alabama Hawkins Field Canceled April 28 Austin Peay Hawkins Field Canceled
May Date Opponent Rank (CB) Site/Stadium Score Win Loss Save TV Attendance Overall Record SEC Record May 1 at Missouri Taylor Stadium Columbia, MO Canceled May 2 at Missouri Taylor Stadium Canceled May 3 at Missouri Taylor Stadium Canceled May 5 Louisville Hawkins Field Canceled May 7 at Florida Alfred A. McKethan Stadium Gainesville, FL Canceled May 8 at Florida Alfred A. McKethan Stadium Canceled May 9 at Florida Alfred A. McKethan Stadium Canceled May 12 Middle Tennessee Hawkins Field Canceled May 14 Mississippi State Hawkins Field Canceled May 15 Mississippi State Hawkins Field Canceled May 16 Mississippi State Hawkins Field Canceled
Post-Season
SEC Tournament Date Opponent Seed Site/Stadium Score Win Loss Save TV Attendance Overall Record SECT Record May 19–24 Hoover Metropolitan Stadium Hoover, AL
Legend:        = Win        = Loss        = Canceled Bold = Vanderbilt team member

Schedule Source:[7]

*Rankings are based on the team's current ranking in the D1Baseball poll.

References

1. "2020 Standings". Southeastern Conference. Retrieved March 12, 2020.
2. "2020 College Baseball Recruiting Rankings". baseballamerica.com.
3. "Mar. 12, 2020 - Athletics competition suspended". vanderbilt.edu.
4. "2020 NCAA Tournament canceled due to growing threat of coronavirus pandemic". cbssports.com.
5. "NCAA cancels remaining winter and spring championships due to coronavirus concerns". ncaa.com.
6. "Official Baseball Roster". Vanderbilt Commodores. Retrieved June 9, 2020.
7. "Schedule Unveiled" (Press release). Vanderbilt University Athletics. October 24, 2019. Retrieved November 30, 2019.