The VandyBoys are back, once again playing up to the lofty standards of excellence that the program has achieved over the last two decades.

Subpar might not be the right word to describe the 2022 campaign for the Commodores – who reached the NCAA Tournament for the 16th consecutive year – but it certainly fell short of matching past successes. Vandy finished last year at 39-23 overall, going 14-16 in the Southeastern Conference and making early exits in both the A tourneys.

What a difference a year makes.

Going into Tuesday’s home game against North Alabama and a key weekend series against No. 6 South Carolina (28-4, 9-2) at Hawkins Field, the fourth-ranked Commodores (26-6) are atop the SEC standings with an 11-1 record that includes becoming only the third SEC team since 1994 to sweep its first three conference series in a season.

LSU (7-4, 26-5), Wake Forest (12-2, 28-4) and Florida (9-3, 27-5) are ranked ahead of Vanderbilt this week. Tennessee, which had a breakout year in 2022, was 5-7, 22-10 and ranked 16th nationally going onto this week’s play. It hosts Vanderbilt for three games April 21-23.

Junior Vanderbilt center fielder Enrique Bradfield Jr., who at one point used the term “unsuccessful” to describe the 2022 season, was asked about the differences between this and last year’s team and if he was having more fun this season.

Coach Tim Corbin’s team in ranked No. 4 nationally and leads all SEC squads with an 11-1 conference record. The Commodores play host to No. 6 South Carolina this weekend, beginning Friday at 6 p.m.

-- Photos By Michelle Morrow |The Ledger

“I am. Winning is fun,” says a smiling Bradfield, the 2021 SEC freshman of the year and a consensus two-time, first-team All-America selection. “I think just the group of guys is different. Even the guys who were here last year, we’re completely different.

“We’re 12 months older. We’ve been able to grow mature – on the field, off the field – and just kind of taken that next step in knowing how we need to go about our days to have a consistent and successful group.”

It’s not surprising that Bradfield’s assessment falls in line with that of veteran coach Tim Corbin, who won’t make year-to-year comparisons but clearly likes this team’s approach to every game.

“I mean, you can’t compare years. This is just different,” Corbin says. “They’re just a steady group. They train well, they’re consistent in what they do on and off the field. They’re just steady, they’re just steady.

RJ Schreck, a graduate student from Los Angeles, leads the team in home runs (8) and RBI (36).

-- Photo By Wade Payne | Ap

“I don’t think we’re going to tell you that we know how much talent we have, but it’s a steady group that likes to be around one another and likes to play the game.”

Slow start to high gear

The Commodores launched the 2023 season in mid-February with a modest 6-3 record that month. They began the season in Arlington, Texas, with an 11-4 loss to No. 15 TCU, followed by wins against No. 9 Oklahoma State and Texas. The home opener was a bust with a loss to Central Arkansas, but the rest of the homestand was solid, including taking two of three against No. 17 UCLA.

March’s adage “in like a lion, out like a lamb” didn’t apply to Vandy. The Commodores roared to a 15-2 record last month and climbed up the national polls. That momentum continued once conference play began and extended into early April.

Vandy won its first 10 SEC games, sweeping Ole Miss, Mississippi State and Georgia before heading to Missouri last weekend. The Commodores won the opener 7-6 to extend the SEC win streak to 10 before the Tigers rallied for a 5-4 win in the middle game and halted Vandy’s win streak at 13 games.

Freshman Devan Kodali from New York City works on bunting. Vanderbilt has the best record in the SEC despite ranking 11th out of 14 teams in batting average at .285

-- Photo By Michelle Morrow |The Ledger

Then Saturday, the Commodores bounced back with a 5-0 shutout to claim the series. Sophomore Devin Futrell (6-1) scattered 5 hits and struck out 6 over 7.1 innings while senior R.J. Schreck homered and drove in a pair of runs and freshman RJ Austin drove in 3 runs.

By the numbers

In all three phases – on the diamond, at the plate and defensively – the Commodores have sparkled during their SEC-leading record play, outscoring foes 127-40 through a dozen league games.

Freshman infielder Chris Maldonado leads the Vandy batters with a .368 average, while Schreck is hitting .347 with a team-high nine home runs and 37 RBI. Austin sports a .307 average, and sophomore Matthew Polk is batting .294.

Bradfield, Vandy’s career stolen base leader, is hitting .291 with 23 stolen bases in 27 attempts. Stats are updated through the Missouri series.

Bradfield, who broke the school record for steals (97) against UCLA, says he operates on a game-by-game basis without expectations for himself or the rest of the season.

“Yeah, I kind of just take things day-to-day. I really don’t have any expectations, but we’re fun group of guys,” Bradfield says.

The trio of starting pitchers are Futrell, fellow sophomore Carter Holton and junior Hunter Owen have a combined record of 12-1. Holton leads the way with a 4-0 record and 2.58 earned run average, while Futrell is 5-1 with a 2.70 ERA and Owen sports a 3-0 record with 3.33 ERA. Owen has registered 52 strikeouts while Holton has 45 and Futrell 33.

Asked about pitching this year compared to 2022, Corbin declined but instead spoke about what his current pitching staff is doing well.

“Like I said, I’m not gonna compare years. It’s a little bit older (team). There’s this consistency to what they’re doing. They throw a lot of strikes, don’t put a lot of guys on base,” he says.

“We’re still working with roles, but everyone for the most part understands where they are and what they’ve got to do. But you know, things are going to change, too. … I just think (it’s) consistency. I hate to be a broken record, but I’m not smart enough to come up with a lot of things for you.”

Next for Vanderbilt

Starting with this weekend’s home series against sixth-ranked South Carolina, the Commodores face a grueling challenge of five nationally ranked opponents (records through April 9).

Following the Tennessee series, Vanderbilt plays host to No. 10 Kentucky (27-5, 9-3) April 28-30 before visiting Alabama (23-10, 4-8) May 4-6 and No. 3 Florida (27-6, 9-3) May 12-14. The Commodores close the SEC regular season at home against No. 5 Arkansas (25-6, 8-4) May 18-20.

While that sounds daunting, all those teams face similar challenges – including having to face a Vandy powerhouse.

“Getting to play the (SEC) competition that we’re playing is preparing us for the future,” Bradfield says matter-of-factly. “So we just take it one day at a time and we’re just trying to improve as a group and go from there.”

Fun team to watch

Not including the 2020 season that was wiped out by the COVID-19 pandemic, Vanderbilt has reached the NCAA Tournament 16 consecutive years and 17 out of 18 since 2004.

During that span, the Commodores reached the College World Series five times and won national championships in 2014 and 2019. They finished as runner-up in 2015 and 2021.

Fifty years ago, with former Nashville Sounds owner Larry Schmittou at the helm, Vanderbilt won its first SEC championship. Another one in May would certainly be a great way to mark that milestone. And that might be the catalyst that leads to another deep run in June’s CWS in Omaha, Nebraska.

Corbin cautions that it’s not wise to look beyond the next game on the schedule. In all his years of coaching, he says, he’s never looked too far ahead.

“That’s never changed,” he says. “You’ve just got to stay really steady in what you’re doing … very intentional in how you go about this because it can change quick. And we all understand that.”

Asked if he felt like the Commodores have something to prove this season after 2022’s postseason run was so brief, Bradfield didn’t miss a beat.

“You know, I wouldn’t say that we have anything to prove. We’re just out here playing our game and we’re having fun together.”