Vanderbilt baseball loses series at Kentucky but keeps NCAA tournament hopes alive

For the second straight week, Vanderbilt baseball won a vital series finale to keep its season alive.

The Commodores (35-20, 13-17 SEC) dropped the first two games of their series at Kentucky, 10-5 and 17-7. But just like last week against Tennessee, Vanderbilt found a win in the final game, 12-4, to likely put it on the right side of the bubble heading into the SEC tournament.

Having won just two of their last 11 SEC games, the Commodores put themselves in a precarious position. But Vanderbilt, with an RPI of No. 25 and head-to-head series wins over fellow bubble teams LSU and Florida, has a resume that typically earns teams a bid.

Once again, the tandem of JD Thompson and Devin Futrell got Vanderbilt the win on Saturday. Thompson allowed two runs in 4⅔ innings, and Futrell allowed two runs in 2⅔. Miller Green closed it out with 1⅔ scoreless innings.

Control is a problem for Vanderbilt's pitching staff vs. Kentucky

In the first two games, free passes were a major issue for Vanderbilt. On Thursday, the quartet of Bryce Cunningham, Brennan Seiber, Luke Guth and Alex Kranzler walked seven batters and hit two, to six strikeouts. On Friday, Carter Holton, Greysen Carter, Ryan Ginther, Sam Hliboki and Levi Huesman combined for seven walks, eight hit batters and eight strikeouts.

On Saturday, Commodores pitchers finally found command of the zone, with three walks and two hit batters to 12 strikeouts.

There was further concern with Holton on Friday, as he left his start after recording just one out and throwing 20 pitches. Holton was checked out by the trainer and initially stayed in the game but was removed later in the inning. His fastball velocity was merely 89-90 mph instead of his usual 92-94. It is unclear whether Holton suffered an injury during the outing.

Green was the only pitcher who threw more than one inning on the weekend and did not allow a run. Fellow freshman Luke Guth had the best relief outing, striking out four and walking one while allowing one run in three innings Thursday.

Vanderbilt's offense performs well vs. Kentucky

Despite the series loss, Vanderbilt put up 37 hits across the three games, including 14 extra-base hits.

Jonathan Vastine recorded six hits in the series, including two doubles and a leadoff home run Thursday. RJ Austin recorded five hits and drew a walk. Matthew Polk had seven hits, and Calvin Hewett had four hits, four walks and a hit by pitch. Hewett hit his first home run since 2022 on Friday.

Camden Kozeal also recorded a home run Thursday and Troy LaNeve had a pinch-hit home run Saturday.

COACH PAY Here's how much Tim Corbin of Vanderbilt baseball was paid in 2022

Examining Vanderbilt baseball's NCAA tournament resume

Vanderbilt finished 13-17 in the SEC, which will garner either the No. 7 or No. 8 seed in the SEC tournament. The Commodores are No. 25 in RPI as of Saturday afternoon.

Since 2012, every SEC team that got to 13 SEC wins with a top-30 RPI has made the NCAA tournament. However, this year there is a catch.

South Carolina, LSU and Florida also have 13-17 records, and Alabama could get there with a win Saturday night. The SEC has never gotten more than 10 teams in the NCAA tournament, so it's likely that at least one of these squads will be left out.

Vanderbilt has the worst record against high-end opponents of that group, sitting at 7-16 in Quadrant 1 games and 13-17 in quadrants 1 and 2.

The Commodores currently sit ahead of both Florida (27) and LSU (28) in RPI, however, and they notched head-to-head series wins over both teams. Should those squads be compared against each other, those series wins could be useful. Vanderbilt was swept by South Carolina and did not face Alabama.

Aria Gerson covers Vanderbilt athletics for The Tennessean. Contact her at agerson@gannett.com or on Twitter @aria_gerson.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: How Vanderbilt baseball kept NCAA tournament hopes alive vs. Kentucky