Our draw

[roanoke]

Vandy opens with a storyline - Presbyterian. A tip of the hat to Coach. Georgia Tech and Indiana State round out the region.

Teamed against the East Carolina region - which also has Charlotte.

We are the #4 seed nationally.

[roanoke]

I had a feeling they might send Presbyterian to Nashville. I also think - still unrevealed - if LSU makes it, they will go to Notre Dame....

The committee likes a story line...

[charlestonalum]

I see a path to Omaha, and some obstacles too. One game at a time. Hope our best baseball is still ahead for this year's team.

[roanoke]

Taking a quick look at Georgia Tech's stats and record reveals that Justyn-Henry Malloy - our transfer - led the team in OBP, HR's and RBI's. Interesting.

Also, they were not involved in a lot of sweeps (nobody swept them) - usually competitive series. Beat Duke and NC State and UNC and Louisville in series (which has my attention.) Against the SEC: they beat Georgia in 14 innings, lost to Auburn. One starter with ERA in 3's - others appear to be in 5's. A fair number of very high scoring games for whatever that's worth.

It appears Louisville did not make the NCAA this year. Folks say the ACC was not that strong this year - but that makes me wary. Louisville was not bad.

Interesting tidbit: South Carolina is "hosting" a region even as the #2 seed - it is a very balanced region with UVa and Old Dominion.

[Versus75]

Should we get to Omaha our first game will be against Arkansas if the Razorbacks make it that far.

A #2 or #3 National Seed would have averted that, but our mediocre stretch run did us in. Just need to
Conquer and Prevail!

[Versus75]

COVID-related? Everything else seems to be.

In past years half of the regions started play on Friday and half on Saturday.

This is the schedule for the first day of regionals in 2019: https://d1baseball.com/scores/?date=20190531

I even told my son (who is my employer) this morning that I wouldn't know until later if the Nashville Region would be Fri/Sat/Sun and perhaps Monday or Sat/Sun/Mon and perhaps Tuesday.

Then I see the entire bracket and find that ALL SIXTEEN regionals are starting on Friday.

NCAA Interactive Bracket: https://www.ncaa.com/brackets/baseball/d1/2021

[admin]

Unless I'm looking at the bracket wrong, there is a possibility that Vandy could meet Tennessee in the National Finals.

[geeznotagain]

Should we get to Omaha our first game will be against Arkansas if the Razorbacks make it that far.

A #2 or #3 National Seed would have averted that, but our mediocre stretch run did us in. Just need to
Conquer and Prevail!

I haven't seen the Omaha brackets, but logically I would have though that 1 would play 8 and 4 would play 5?

[AuricGoldfinger]

It's a pretty good draw for Vandy. It's not the weakest regional (see: Mississippi State) and I hate having to play against an ex-VU player, but it could be worse. I am grateful that if we get past the regional we won't have to play an SEC team in the Supers. And there's no guarantee that ECU gets out of Greenville--Charlotte is legit.

[Versus75]

I haven't seen the Omaha brackets, but logically I would have though that 1 would play 8 and 4 would play 5?

Yes ... unless they changed THAT also.

[DivergentDore]

We may advance through our bracket but tougher pitching matchups couldn't have been handpicked. The norm for 2&3 seeds in regionals is to save ace pitchers for game 2 and battle out high scoring game 1s with 3rd or 4th pitchers. If this is the case in our regional the Tech ace is a leftie version of the Ole Miss kid that shut us down in the SEC tourney; low to mid 90s fastball that he keeps low in the zone and two different breaking balls. The Sycamore kid is a shorter collegiate version of Jamie Moyer who has a full repertoire of breaking pitches, some of which probably haven't been named yet.

[roanoke]

I'm really not sure about that - in the 1-4 match-up sometimes the #1 will hold back #1 pitcher because they feel they can get by without burning him.

Losing the first game is a really bad way to go. In a 2-3 death match - it takes stones not to start your best. It also allows him to come back if there is weather or the series gets extended somehow.

I'm not disputing your theory that both teams have a real solid pitcher - but whichever team doesn't start their #1 may very well be playing in the losers bracket in game 2.... It is our job not to be in the loser's bracket right out of the gate.

[charlestonalum]

I'm really not sure about that - in the 1-4 match-up sometimes the #1 will hold back #1 pitcher because they feel they can get by without burning him.

Losing the first game is a really bad way to go. In a 2-3 death match - it takes stones not to start your best. It also allows him to come back if there is weather or the series gets extended somehow.

I'm not disputing your theory that both teams have a real solid pitcher - but whichever team doesn't start their #1 may very well be playing in the losers bracket in game 2.... It is our job not to be in the loser's bracket right out of the gate.

Saw Corbin say "... we like to keep things the same..." Implying we will pitch Kumar. I agree, We have to win game 1 and take it from there.

[AuricGoldfinger]

Corbin likes the routine developed over the season. I think he'll pitch Rocker on Friday night, even given the strong rationale of saving him for game three.

[commadore]

Interesting tidbit: Vandy, Ga Tech, and Indiana State are all 5-5 in their last 10 games. On the other hand, Presbyterian is 8-2 in their last ten. Don't know how to take it, but there it is.

[baseball1234]

It's a pretty good draw for Vandy. It's not the weakest regional (see: Mississippi State) and I hate having to play against an ex-VU player, but it could be worse. I am grateful that if we get past the regional we won't have to play an SEC team in the Supers. And there's no guarantee that ECU gets out of Greenville--Charlotte is legit.

State has a joke of a region. By far the easiest. VCU beat Va twice. Other than that, I don't see any other wins by any of the three teams against any big conference teams. Viles have a much tougher draw as the three seed.

[dore74]

Agree that the UT draw looks rougher than ours.

Nevertheless, there is a lot to be not so confident about. Hopefully, Kumar regains his location and control--he has seemed a bit off lately. Those old fashioned honest-to-goodness curve ball ball pitchers have given us fits over the last several weeks. We need to get our slow ball hitting shoes on.

Still in all, have to like our chances this weekend. I also find it alluring--and trying not to jinx anything--that the college World Series could have an all Tennessee final. As the late, great Mel Allen would have said "how about that".

[baseball1234]

Agree that the UT draw looks rougher than ours.

Nevertheless, there is a lot to be not so confident about. Hopefully, Kumar regains his location and control--he has seemed a bit off lately. Those old fashioned honest-to-goodness curve ball ball pitchers have given us fits over the last several weeks. We need to get our slow ball hitting shoes on.

Still in all, have to like our chances this weekend. I also find it alluring--and trying not to jinx anything--that the college World Series could have an all Tennessee final. As the late, great Mel Allen would have said "how about that".

Check out East Carolina's ace, Gavin Williams. (Not that we should get ahead of ourselves.) He is anything but a junkballer.

[commadore]

Agree that the UT draw looks rougher than ours.

Nevertheless, there is a lot to be not so confident about. Hopefully, Kumar regains his location and control--he has seemed a bit off lately. Those old fashioned honest-to-goodness curve ball ball pitchers have given us fits over the last several weeks. We need to get our slow ball hitting shoes on.

Still in all, have to like our chances this weekend. I also find it alluring--and trying not to jinx anything--that the college World Series could have an all Tennessee final. As the late, great Mel Allen would have said "how about that".

Oddly enough, Mel Allen's brother lives in Montgomery. Had dinner with them o ce. Nice guy. His niece actually went to Vanderbilt in the late 70s. Had several poly science classes with her. Her son and my daughter went to school together and had the same birthday. Small world.

[Ndorefin]

It makes no sense not to throw your best pitchers earliest. If you lose one game, you’ll have to play an extra game and burn another pitcher, to reach the finals. I don’t know why any team would take a chance with anyone less than your best every game. This tourney is different than the SEC tourney, in that our first game was on a Wednesday instead of Friday and our pitchers needed that extra day’s rest. Let’s hope Rocker and Leiter are more focused on every hitter as one bad inning could be devastating with a high pitch count.