2016 Vanderbilt Commodores baseball team

2016 Vanderbilt Commodores baseball
Conference	Southeastern Conference
Ranking
Coaches	#8
2016 record	8-0 (0–0 SEC)
Head coach	Tim Corbin (14th year)
Assistant coach	Scott Brown (4th year)
Assistant coach	Travis Jewett (4th year)
Home stadium	Hawkins Field

2016 Southeastern Conference baseball standings
	Conf									Overall
Team	W		L		T		PCT			W		L		T		PCT
Eastern
#6 South Carolina x	20	–	9	–	0		.690			42	–	15	–	0		.737
#2 Florida	19	–	10	–	0		.655			47	–	13	–	0		.783
#10 Vanderbilt	18	–	12	–	0		.600			43	–	17	–	0		.717
Kentucky	15	–	15	–	0		.500			32	–	25	–	0		.561
Georgia	11	–	19	–	0		.367			27	–	30	–	0		.474
Tennessee	9	–	21	–	0		.300			29	–	28	–	0		.509
Missouri	9	–	21	–	0		.300			26	–	30	–	0		.464
Western
#4 Mississippi State x†	21	–	9	–	0		.700			41	–	16	–	1		.716
#1 Texas A&M ‡	20	–	10	–	0		.667			45	–	14	–	0		.763
#9 LSU	19	–	11	–	0		.633			41	–	18	–	0		.695
#16 Ole Miss	18	–	12	–	0		.600			43	–	17	–	0		.717
Alabama	15	–	15	–	0		.500			32	–	26	–	0		.552
Auburn	8	–	22	–	0		.267			23	–	33	–	0		.411
Arkansas	7	–	23	–	0		.233			26	–	29	–	0		.473
x – Division champion † – Conference champion ‡ – Tournament champion y – Invited to the NCAA Division I Baseball Championship Rankings from Collegiate Baseball

The 2016 Vanderbilt Commodores baseball team represents Vanderbilt University during the 2016 NCAA Division I baseball season. The Commodores play their home games at Hawkins Field as a member of the Eastern Division of the Southeastern Conference. They are led by head coach Tim Corbin, in his 14th season at Vanderbilt.

Previous season

After a slow start to the 2015 season, the Commodores easily qualified for the 2015 Southeastern Conference tournament, where they finished second to the Florida Gators. They then played host to the 2015 NCAA Nashville Regional, where they defeated Lipscomb University and Radford University, the latter by a record-tying shutout score of 21-0. The Commodores then faced the University of Illinois in the NCAA Superegional, defeating them in a two-game sweep and advancing to the College World Series. In their opening-round game in the 2015 College World Series, Vanderbilt defeated Cal State Fullerton, 4–3, on a walkoff home run in the bottom of the ninth in a game that had been suspended due to rain the night before, advancing into the winners' bracket. In their second-round game, Vanderbilt defeated the number 7 national seed TCU, 1–0. Zander Wiel hit a home run in the 7th inning to score the lone run of the game and break up a no-hitter. Behind an offensive outburst and dominating performance behind the arm of Walker Buehler, the Commodores beat TCU 7–1 to advance to their second straight College World Series Championship Series. In game 1 of the championship series Vanderbilt defeated Virginia 5–1 thanks to an outing by Carson Fulmer. Virginia held Vanderbilt scoreless (3-0) for just the second time all year, forcing a winner-take-all third game for the national championship. The Cavaliers beat Vanderbilt 4–2 to win their first baseball national championship in program history.

Personnel

Roster

2016 Vanderbilt Commodores roster
	Pitchers 21 - John Kilichowski - Junior 23 - Joey Abraham - Sophomore 24 - Jordan Sheffield - Sophomore 27 - Chandler Day - Freshman 28 - Matt Ruppenthal - Sophomore 29 - Patrick Raby - Freshman 31 - Ryan Johnson - Sophomore 32 - Hayden Stone - Junior 35 - Ben Bowden - Junior 38 - Matt McGarry - Freshman 40 - Collin Snider - Sophomore 41 - Donny Everett - Freshman 42 - Maddux Conger - Freshman 44 - Kyle Wright - Sophomore 45 - Evan Steele - Freshman		Catchers 5 - Jason Delay - Junior 25 - Karl Ellison - Junior 33 - Tristan Chari - Sophomore Infielders 2 - Tyler Campbell - Senior 8 - Alonzo Jones - Freshman 9 - Will Toffey - Sophomore 10 - Ethan Paul - Freshman 11 - Liam Sabino - Sophomore 12 - Connor Kaiser - Freshman 16 - Penn Murfree - Sophomore 55 - Tyler Green - Sophomore		Outfielders 1 - Ro Coleman - Junior 3 - Jeren Kendall - Sophomore 17 - Walker Grisanti - Freshman 18 - Nolan Rogers - Junior 19 - Stephen Scott - Freshman 20 - Bryan Reynolds - Junior 39 - Kyle Smith - Senior

Coaching staff

Name	Position	Seasons at Vanderbilt	Alma mater
Tim Corbin	Head coach	14	Ohio Wesleyan University (1984)
Scott Brown	Assistant coach	4	SUNY Cortland (1999)
Travis Jewett	Assistant coach	4	Washington State University (1993)

Schedule

Legend
	Vanderbilt win
	Vanderbilt loss
	Postponement
Bold	Vanderbilt team member