Three Takeaways from Vanderbilt's Win Against Tennessee Tech
Just because No. 14 Vanderbilt was supposed to win doesn’t mean its 16-3 win Tuesday against Tennessee Tech wasn’t impressive.
The Commodores (7-1) now have 51 wins against the Golden Eagles and it would’ve been an monumentally huge upset if the Golden Eagles had somehow won. And after one half inning, they were leading but by the time they had recorded three outs, Vanderbilt was leading and never looked back.
Here are three takeaways from Tuesday evening’s game at Hawkins Field:
Patience is a Virtue
In today’s world, patience is starting to be as common as common sense (not very) but the Commodores have some. They drew 13 walks against Tennessee Tech that led to a lot of runs, including two scored as a result of bases-loaded walks.
It was smart baseball. Vanderbilt was clearly the better team and were able to avoid swinging at pitches outside the strike zone. But the Golden Eagles did throw a strike…
Making the Wait Pay Off
The Commodores made them pay for it. Vanderbilt had just unearned run, but had 15 RBIs. That tells us that once runners got on base, the Commodores took advantage with timely, clutch hitting. The Commodores had nine hits and was led by Colin Barczi who had one hit and three RBIs.
Young Pitchers Get Experience
At both the professional and collegiate levels, baseball champions have one thing in common more often than not: great pitching. You can never have enough good pitchers, but good pitchers have to get in-game experience to become good. Vanderbilt started freshman Austin Nye on the mound and he was relieved by sophomores Brennan Seiber, Connor Fennell and Luke Guth. If their services are needed in a game moment later on in the season, they at least won’t be making the season debut.
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