Vanderbilt Baseball Notebook: Finding Balance at the Plate, Fennell’s Steadiness, Barczi Sidelined

NASHVILLE — Entering the second weekend of the season with a conference-best 16 home runs through five games, Vanderbilt Baseball showed no signs of slowing down on Friday.

Perhaps a year ago Vanderbilt would have been in trouble after two first-inning errors from the usually sure-handed Ryker Waite and Cornell transfer Max Jensen led to an early 1-0 deficit. When its offense wasn’t clicking last season, a one-run deficit could easily have felt like five. Not this year, though.

Through five games in 2025, Vanderbilt’s offense looks like a completely different beast than it did last season. Under first-year hitting coach Jason Esposito, the Commodores’ 16 home runs entering Friday led the SEC — four more round-trippers than the league’s second-best Texas A&M and LSU, who’ve each hit 12. Vanderbilt also concluded its first week of the season ranking second in the conference in RBIs, third in total bases, and first in walks — all while playing its first three games at the Texas Rangers’ Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas.

It’s a small sample, sure, but still hard to ignore.

On Friday against Marist though, the Commodores didn’t need to rely on the long ball to get the job done. Vanderbilt’s offense saw each of its nine hitters reach base at least twice, stringing together a combined 18 hits and 16 runs en route to their its third straight run-rule victory. Braden Holcomb led the way with three hits — including an opposite field home run that gave Vanderbilt the lead in the fifth inning — but most of its production came from the lineup’s station-to-station approach that’s become a staple of Tim Corbin’s Vanderbilt teams.

That balance means something.

Last weekend in Arlington, Vanderbilt combined for eight home runs against TCU and Texas Tech before being limited to just two hits in Sunday’s loss to Oklahoma State. The power surge was obvious, but it begged a natural question: Had the offense traded consistency for slug?

Friday suggested otherwise.

While the power remains — the Commodores still clubbed three home runs against Marist — Vanderbilt’s contact-oriented approach remains clearly intact under Esposito in 2026. With an emphasis on hunting fastballs early in the count, the lineup looks much improved from a season ago in nearly all facets.

"It's being simple and sticking to our plan," Logan Johnstone said after the game. "There's a huge emphasis on sticking to our approach and staying on fastballs."

Now, if it can continue to merge its newfound pop with its traditional plate discipline and contact-driven approach, Vanderbilt has the makings of one of the SEC’s most complete offenses.

Another Workmanlike Friday for Connor Fennell

Connor Fennell’s performance against Marist may not have popped off the page as flawless or dominant. But it was another outing that put Vanderbilt in a strong position to win, and that’s ultimately the best thing a Friday starter in this league can give his team.

Last week against TCU, Fennell threw 5.1 innings, allowing 2 earned runs, 2 hits and 7 strikeouts. This afternoon against Marist, he allowed 3 hits, 2 earned runs and once again struck out 7 over 5 innings. His starts were nearly identical, granted they happened in different ways. While Fennell’s unique fastball was his main weapon against TCU, it was his changeup that generated the majority of his whiffs on Friday. A weapon to both handedness of hitters, the 80 MPH offering has elite vertical separation from his fastball and also possesses above average arm-side movement.

“Solo [home runs] don’t beat you unless you let up a bunch of them,” Corbin said after the game. “[Fennell’s] able to bear down in situations where he needs to.”

The thin right-hander may not have the elite velocity of some of the conference’s top Friday night starters, but his consistency on the mound through two games — and much of last season — means something.

Mike Mancini Returns as Roles Take Shape

After missing the first five games of the season with a minor groin injury, Mike Mancini made his season debut against Marist, going 2-for-5 with two hits and an additional pair of hard-hit lineouts to center field. Now fully recovered from a hand injury to his hamate bone that dampened his power for most of last season, the former JMU standout appears to have a defined role cut out for him in the middle of Corbin’s order. Playing left field on Friday and making a slick running grab in the third inning, Mancini has made himself an option both in left field and at second base. He will likely share those positions with Rustan Rigdon in some capacity for the remainder of the season.

Back in the lineup at first base after Tommy Goodin started both midweek games, Max Jensen went 2-for-4 at the plate with a walk from the left side. Despite Goodin having the edge in the power department, Jensen appears to have the slight edge in contact and discipline. Still, the two will likely continue to split time going forward.

Mack Whitcomb, who’s been exclusively a Designated Hitter thus far, had his best day at the plate in a Vanderbilt uniform on Friday, going 3-for-4 with two doubles, two RBIs, and two runs scored before being pinch-ran for by Colin Brightwell in the eighth inning. The Tennessee Tech transfer looks to be Corbin’s primary designated hitter going forward — though others will certainly enter that mix.

A Colin Barczi Update

The talk of the college baseball world after his three-home run performance on Opening Day, Colin Barczi has since cooled off a bit but remains one of the most important hitters in Vanderbilt’s lineup. After an awkward slide against Eastern Michigan earlier this week, Barczi was out of the lineup on Friday with a shoulder injury. Though there’s no structural damage, the backstop will likely be sidelined for at least the remainder of this weekend.

“If he had to play this weekend, we would,” Corbin said. “I’m going to treat him as day-to-day.”

Freshman Korbin Reynolds, starting for the second time in the past three games, also appears to have forced his way into some playing time — especially if Barczi misses time. The Clarksville, Tennessee native hit his first collegiate home run in the eighth inning Friday and was on base twice in five at bats.