Yesterday, a depleted Vandebilt pitching staff had to go against a well-stocked Jorts pitching staff. Our pitcher—Fr. LHP JD “Homer” Thompson—was making his first start of his collegiate career, and theirs, The Swamp Shohei Otani himself, Jacky Cags, was coming off two dominant starts. Yeah, of course we win that game...

It was a gutsy performance by Thompson, to be sure, but the reasons we beat the Jorts to advance to today’s Championship Game v.s aTm was the offense jumping out to a 4 run lead in the first (aided by some walks and errors) and then never letting up, opponent errors, and the mind-blowing defense of one Enrique Shockwave:

Today? Well... we really only have one fresh arm, though it appears we will not start him. Yesterday, we all assumed we would need Greysen Carter to go about 6 innings to start this off, as everything else will be patched together from guys who have already thrown this week.

Apparently we’ll start Sr. RHP Sam “The Perfect Stranger” Hliboki in his stead. I would bet Carter is the first arm out of the pen, though, and that Hliboki will be out there for no more than 3 IP.

After that, well, ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. Maldo should be good to close (but just a one inning save, this time). Prancetown Jack should be fresh (though he looked rough last night). David Horn should be able to throw an inning or two. Maybe even an inning from Patrick Reilly. It’ll be all hands on deck, but I would be shocked if either Owen or Futrell throws a pitch today.

In the opposing dugout, aTm has pitched really well in this tourney, but this will be their 6th game in 6 days. Can’t imagine they’re in any better position than we are, arm-freshness-wise.

‘23 Record: 36-24 (14-16 SEC).

I’ll not look into their conference schedule, as more importantly, they’re as hot as we are right now. They have locked up an NCAA Tourney bid with their play in Hooverville, largely due to their pitching. They shut out The Chuggers 3-0, lost to Arky in extras 5-6, blanked The Penises 5-0, and then beat both LSU and Arky 5-4 to get to the championship game. Whereas we’ve largely won with offense and defense, The Milkman Cult has been mostly pitching.

Player to Watch: #9 Jr. 1B Jack “Peaty” Moss (.363/.471/.481 with 14 2B, 1 3B, 4 HR, and 36 RBI). While #17 Fr. OF Jace “The Violet” LaViolete is their top power and RBI guy (19 HR; 59 RBI), Moss is their most consistent hitter.

Anchor of Gold Tiger Beat Hottest Pitcher: #9 So. LHP Troy “Chane Wassanasong” Wansing (3-3; 4.93 ERA), threw 8 IP scoreless against The Chuggers on Tuesday and picked up the save last night against Arky. I cannot imagine we’ll see him today, unless Milkman Cult HC Jim Schlossnagle wants to turn his arm into a jelly, Dave Van Horn style.

I have no idea how many arms aTm will have available today, but trust me, no one will be fresh. Just like us, they’re starting their starting pitcher from Wednesday.

On the Mound

Sunday @ 2:00pm CT on ESPN2

#40 Vanderbilt Sr. RHP Sam “The Perfect Stranger” Hliboki (3-3; 5.31 ERA)

vs. #35 aTm Jr. RHP Nathan “Koy” Dettmer (1-3; 6.05 ERA)

The Lineup

See you in the comments.