2016 Vanderbilt Commodores baseball team

2016 Vanderbilt Commodores baseball
Conference	Southeastern Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 10
Record	42–19 (18–12 SEC)
Head coach	Tim Corbin (14th season)
Assistant coaches	Scott Brown (4th season) Travis Jewett (4th season)
Home stadium	Hawkins Field

2016 Southeastern Conference baseball standings

	Conf									Overall
Team	W		L		T		PCT			W		L		T		PCT
Eastern
No. 12 South Carolina  x‍‍‍y	20	–	9	–	0		.690			46	–	18	–	0		.719
No. 7 Florida  ‍‍‍y	19	–	10	–	0		.655			52	–	16	–	0		.765
No. 23 Vanderbilt  ‍‍‍y	18	–	12	–	0		.600			43	–	19	–	0		.694
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
No. 10 Mississippi State x‍†‍‍y	21	–	9	–	0		.700			44	–	18	–	1		.706
No. 9 Texas A&M  ‍‍‡‍y	20	–	10	–	0		.667			49	–	16	–	0		.754
No. 13 LSU  ‍‍‍y	19	–	11	–	0		.633			45	–	21	–	0		.682
Ole Miss  ‍‍‍y	18	–	12	–	0		.600			43	–	19	–	0		.694
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 tournament Rankings from Collegiate Baseball

The 2016 Vanderbilt Commodores baseball team represented 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. The Commodores compiled a 40–15 regular season record, going 18–12 in the SEC and finishing ranked #10 in the nation. The Commodores earned a #6 seed in the 2016 Southeastern Conference tournament, where they went 2–2 and were eliminated by Texas A&M, the eventual champions. Following the SEC tournament, the Commodores hosted a regional in the NCAA Division I baseball tournament, part of the Louisville super regional. The season was marred by the death of freshman pitcher Donny Everett, who drowned the day before Vanderbilt was to take on Xavier University in their first regional game. Vanderbilt went 0–2 in the Nashville regional to end the season, falling to Xavier and Washington.

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 walk-off 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.

Donny Everett

Vanderbilt freshman pitcher Donny Everett drowned at Normandy Lake, in Manchester, Tennessee, on June 2, 2016, just one day before the Commodores were to play Xavier to enter the NCAA Division I baseball tournament. According to officials, Everett was fishing with four friends when he decided to attempt to swim from the west side to the east side of Fire Lake Bridge. Halfway through, Everett began noticing problems and notified his friends for help, but they thought he was "joking around" because he didn't seem to be in distress. The report stated one of the four swam in to help Everett, by which he stated he wasn't a good swimmer and struggling to stay afloat. He looked back, but Everett had gone under and wasn't coming up-shore. Officials sent a deputy and an ambulance at 5:00 PM to the lake for "a subject that had gone underwater". Deputies recovered his body at 6:49 PM, and he was sent to the state medical examiner in Nashville. He was 19 years old. Everett won the 2015 Gatorade Player of the Year, and was drafted in the 29th round last year by the Milwaukee Brewers out of Clarksville High School in Clarksville, Tennessee. He finished this season with a 0–1 record and a 1.50 ERA, as well as 13 strikeouts in 12 innings. After Everett's death, Vanderbilt University released a statement saying that "...the team, the athletic department and the university are trying to come to terms with this tragedy." As a result of Everett's untimely death, many NCAA baseball teams, including Ole Miss and LSU, paid tribute by holding a moment of silence and writing Everett's initials on their equipment. The NCAA offered to postpone Vanderbilt's June 3 game against Xavier but the Commodores planned to play, with Coach Corbin calling the baseball field "their safe haven." The game was eventually postponed due to rain.

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 Murfee – 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

Record vs. conference opponents

Last two do not qualify for conf. tourn. Blank are not scheduled. Blue are home games, otherwise away.

2016 SEC baseball records Source: 2016 SEC baseball game results
Team	W–L	ALA	ARK	AUB	FLA	UGA	KEN	LSU	MSU	MIZZ	MISS	SCAR	TENN	TAMU	VAN	Team	Div	SR	SW
ALA	15–15		3–0	2–1	.	1–2	1–2	2–1	1–2	.	2–1	0–3	2–1	1–2	.	ALA	W5	5–5	1–1
ARK	7–23	0–3		3–0	0–3	.	2–1	0–3	0–3	1–2	0–3	0–3	.	1–2	.	ARK	W7	2–8	1–6
AUB	8–22	1–2	0–3		.	.	2–1	1–2	0–3	1–2	0–3	.	2–1	1–2	0–3	AUB	W6	2–8	0–4
FLA	19–10	.	3–0	.		2–1	1–2	1–2	1–2	3–0	.	1–1	2–1	3–0	2–1	FLA	E2	6–3	3–0
UGA	11–19	2–1	.	.	1–2		1–2	.	1–2	2–1	1–2	2–1	1–2	0–3	0–3	UGA	E5	3–7	0–2
KEN	15–15	2–1	1–2	1–2	2–1	2–1		.	.	2–1	0–3	2–1	2–1	.	1–2	KEN	E4	6–4	0–1
LSU	19–11	1–2	3–0	2–1	2–1	.	.		1–2	3–0	1–2	.	3–0	1–2	2–1	LSU	W3	6–4	3–0
MSU	21–9	2–1	3–0	3–0	2–1	2–1	.	2–1		3–0	2–1	.	.	0–3	2–1	MSU	W1	9–1	3–1
MIZZ	9–21	.	2–1	2–1	0–3	1–2	1–2	0–3	0–3		.	0–3	3–0	.	0–3	MIZZ	E7	2–8	1–4
MISS	18–12	1–2	3–0	3–0	.	2–1	3–0	2–1	1–2	.		0–3	2–1	1–2	.	MISS	W4	6–4	3–1
SCAR	20–9	3–0	3–0	.	1–1	1–2	1–2	.	.	3–0	3–0		3–0	1–2	1–2	SCAR	E1	5–4	5–0
TENN	9–21	1–2	.	1–2	1–2	2–1	1–2	0–3	.	0–3	1–2	0–3		.	2–1	TENN	E6	2–8	0–3
TAMU	20–10	2–1	2–1	2–1	0–3	3–0	.	2–1	3–0	.	2–1	2–1	.		2–1	TAMU	W2	9–1	2–1
VAN	18–12	.	.	3–0	1–2	3–0	2–1	1–2	1–2	3–0	.	2–1	1–2	1–2		VAN	E3	5–5	3–0
Team	W–L	ALA	ARK	AUB	FLA	UGA	KEN	LSU	MSU	MIZZ	MISS	SCAR	TENN	TAMU	VAN	Team	Div	SR	SW

Updated for entire regular season.