Vanderbilt Baseball Notebook: Sophomore's Time? A Combined No Hitter, Johnston's Maturity

NASHVILLE—A year ago in moments like Vanderbilt saw Saturday, Ryker Waite and Tommy Goodin were often subjected to the dugout rail until things got out of hand enough for them to take the field or get a late-game plate appearance.

Wednesday, it was Goodin and Waite who put Vanderbilt’s 15-2 win over Eastern Michigan–which ended in the run rule–out of reach. A season after the pair looked to find any semblance of playing time behind program stalwarts, Goodin was the one being subbed out before the start of the fifth inning so that Chris Maldonado could see the field. Waite was giving advice to Vanderbilt outfielder Logan Johnstone in the on-deck circle as if he’s been through this plenty of times.

Perhaps the most demonstrative signs of growth among the pair of young guys were the grand slams that each hit on the day. Goodin’s was seemingly flicked to right-center to make this thing 4-0. Waite’s put Vanderbilt in run-rule territory as it glided over the shortened wall in right field a few feet left of the foul pole.

“I saw him throw the pitch before,” Waite said. “He threw me that same change up and I got sac fly on it.  And then I got up there again, first pitch change up and just saw it out of the hand and put a good swing on it.”

Perhaps the midweek results in themselves weren’t entirely significant in themselves, but they served as significant confirmation bias material for the conclusion that Waite and Goodin will play significant roles on this Vanderbilt team.

Waite has started at shortstop in all five of Vanderbilt’s games to this point and doesn’t appear to be going anywhere. Goodin has appeared in all of Vanderbilt’s games, as well, and has homered in the last two.

Cornell transfer Max Jensen still has a chance to win the full-time gig at first base, but it appears as if Waite is all but locked in to the every day shortstop role like Jonathan Vastine was a season ago and that Goodin is in play–at the very least–for consistent time at first base.

That year out of the lineup appeared to do plenty for those two. Now, it’s their time.

A combined no-hitter

Perhaps it wasn’t a true no hitter for Vanderbilt because of the run rule, but the seven pitchers it threw on Wednesday combined to make it a special night. Despite Eastern Michigan scoring two runs, it was no hit by the Vanderbilt staff.

“It was pretty cool,” Vanderbilt reliever Brennan Seiber–who threw one inning and got the win on Wednesday–said. “It was seven innings, but it was great, and a lot of guys got to touch the ball today, too, which was cool. Some people are doing it for the first time.  I know the nerves for the freshman guys getting in there the first time is it's a cool feeling, and I'm glad they got to do that in a game like this. It was fun.”

Vanderbilt reliever Alex Kranzler was a part of Vanderbilt letting it get out of hand against Oklahoma State on Sunday, but he was back to work on Wednesday and found himself.

The Vanderbilt reliever saw three batters, struck two of them out, forced a groundout and got through the inning cleanly to get right before Vanderbilt’s first home series over the weekend. That was a welcome sign for this Vanderbilt team.

That was perhaps the most practical part of an excellent night for its pitching staff.

Brodie Johnston continues to demonstrate his maturation

Johnston entered the day leading college baseball in home runs and while he didn’t add to that total on Wednesday, he appeared to add something more significant.

“Just comfortable. He’s comfortable at the plate. He’s seeing the ball well. I just think he’s kind of in a rhythm. He was in Texas and he was here,” Vanderbilt coach Tim Corbin said on Tuesday. “I think the best thing is just staying in good counts. The balls that are off the zone, he’s not offering even until he’s into his legs. He’s got a good balance at the plate. He’s a good hitter, but that’s what I see. I just see a very balanced kid at the plate.”

The knock on Johnston last season was that he swung too freely and too consistently at bad pitches. Goodin’s grand slam on Wednesday wouldn’t have been possible had Johnston swung and missed at a 3-2 pitch that eventually allowed him to walk.

Perhaps that’s an indication that Johnston and this Vanderbilt lineup as a whole is significantly more dynamic.