Anchor Of Gold - All PostsThe Unofficial Vanderbilt Commodores Blog * Now With Fewer Law Degrees!https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/46811/anchor-fave.png2024-03-18T12:37:48-04:00http://www.anchorofgold.com/rss/current/2024-03-18T12:37:48-04:002024-03-18T12:37:48-04:00Join the AoG Bracket Challenge(s)
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<figcaption>Kelly Wilkinson/IndyStar via Imagn Content Services, LLC</figcaption>
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<p>Hey, we’re doing the women’s tournament, too!</p> <p id="ywwAKQ">It’s that time of year again: time for the Anchor of Gold Bracket Challenge.</p>
<p id="ve3n37">Only this year, we’re also doing the women’s tournament since Vanderbilt is playing in it.</p>
<p id="8yCn3b">The rules are simple:</p>
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<li id="8jyyff">Join the <a href="https://fantasy.espn.com/tc/sharer?challengeId=240&from=espn&context=GROUP_INVITE&edition=espn-en&groupId=01be642b-0cf3-461d-a8ba-6a78a68ddd8c">men’s</a> and <a href="https://fantasy.espn.com/tc/sharer?challengeId=241&from=espn&context=GROUP_INVITE&edition=espn-en&groupId=2ddb3819-e505-4e82-89f0-1734bdece193">women’s</a> bracket challenge in the Anchor of Gold group.</li>
<li id="UhbSlQ">Make your picks.</li>
<li id="IzxHPq">Use the same name as your Anchor of Gold username (everybody always struggles with this.)</li>
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https://www.anchorofgold.com/2024/3/18/24104945/join-the-aog-bracket-challenge-sTom Stephenson2024-03-17T20:25:51-04:002024-03-17T20:25:51-04:00WE’RE IN!
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<figcaption>Finally! | @VandyWBB on Twitter</figcaption>
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<p>As a 12?</p> <p id="wXkfoJ"><a href="https://vucommodores.com/dores-go-dancing/">The wait is finally over</a>! We’re headed to Blacksburg where we’ll be a 12-seed facing off against Columbia in the First Four on Wednesday at 8PM. The winner will take on Baylor in the Round of 64 on Friday at 5PM. Both games will be shown on ESPNU. Tickets go on sale <a href="https://hokiesports.com/news/2024/3/17/virginia-tech-womens-basketball-ncaa-tournament-details-released.aspx">Monday</a> at 1PM. Athletics has a dedicated page with more information <a href="https://vucommodores.com/ncaa24/">here</a>.</p>
<p id="LVvTye">We played eventual WNIT Runner-Up Columbia last season and upset them by 11. Right now, we are one spot over the Lions in NET (56 v. 57). Athletics previews the game <a href="https://vucommodores.com/first-four-game-time-set/">here</a> (ignore the lack of Washington State corrections from the Learfield template they use), and I'll be sure to have a game thread up come time to play.</p>
<p id="kSTCfN">As for how we ended up a 12, in the comments PhilipVU94 identified Richmond as the AQ team that jumped the bubble into the 10-spot when most projections had them much lower. That pushed us down a seed line while opening up an at-large slot for Columbia, making us the last two in.</p>
<p id="HhTwQ4">Finally, I will definitely be at the First Four. Be there, or be square.</p>
https://www.anchorofgold.com/2024/3/17/24104250/were-inCole.SullivanVU222024-03-17T19:28:33-04:002024-03-17T19:28:33-04:00Vanderbilt Baseball Mail Bag #5: Call For Submissions
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<figcaption>Photo by RJ Sangosti/MediaNews Group/The Denver Post via Getty Images</figcaption>
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<p><em>Post VANDERBILT Baseball and/or SEC Baseball questions in the comments here.</em> </p> <p id="JMY93O"><em>*Note: I’ll be hiking, canoeing, and fishing for a few days, so I will not be able to answer this until Thursday night. This also means someone else will have to put up the Game Thread for Tuesday against Belmont.</em></p>
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<p id="1Xd3ih">What. A. Weekend. That’s the way you want to open SEC play. The Diamond Dores bludgeoned the Auburn War Tigers 11-1, 13-5, and had to come back Sunday, but did so with some stank on it, winning 9-6 and breaking out the brooms. We’ve won 13 straight, and are really coming together as a team in all facets.</p>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">St. Pats Sweep <a href="https://t.co/zR7XBLNcpU">pic.twitter.com/zR7XBLNcpU</a></p>— Vanderbilt Baseball (@VandyBoys) <a href="https://twitter.com/VandyBoys/status/1769470360414831026?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 17, 2024</a>
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<p id="OUjB35">We play Belmont on Tuesday at First Horizon Park and then travel to Columbia, South Cackalacky for a three game set against The Game Penises (who lost 2 games to 1 against Ole Piss this weekend). </p>
<p id="31iwGm">Anyway, I assume you have questions.</p>
<p id="PjDKhi">Here are the rules of the mail bag:</p>
<ol>
<li id="YtluSD">This is a BASEBALL mailbag, so limit your questions to Vanderbilt baseball, SEC baseball, college baseball, or Vanderbilt baseball alums in the pros like Tony Kemp.</li>
<li id="GXxXYu">Post your questions here in the <strong>comments</strong> and I’ll answer them in a post on this week.</li>
<li id="XhE1L5">I will collate the best of said emails/questions in the comments, and cull ones that deal with the same topic (so we don’t have to repeat ourselves multiple times weekly).</li>
<li id="YRtW9x">All <em>Anchor of Gold </em>community guidelines apply to the questions. Our basic rule is “don’t be the worst.” Chuggers fans violate this like it’s their birth right.</li>
<li id="abEKbY">Mike Papi, Luke Smith, and Ton “The Calf” Vitello are human garbage.</li>
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<p id="rv7QJd">...and that’s it.</p>
<p id="wuxFBA"><em>*Note: Questions about other SEC baseball teams are welcome, too. I just won’t know as much about them, and will likely respond with juvenile, biased trash talk.</em></p>
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https://www.anchorofgold.com/2024/3/17/24104353/vanderbilt-baseball-mail-bag-5-call-for-submissionsAndrew VU '042024-03-17T13:30:00-04:002024-03-17T13:30:00-04:00Sunday Game Thread: vs. The Auburn War Tigers
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<img alt="Photo by John Ewing; 07/05/00; A tiger trainer with the Clyde Beatty-Cole Brothers Circus cleans the" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/MF_WicnbsCVKYaKd4q5TdooucLM=/45x0:1914x1246/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73213393/481179181.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Clean them cages, boys. | Photo by Portland Press Herald via Getty Images</figcaption>
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<p>After 11-1 and 13-5 bludgeonings, it’s time to give the ball to Devin Futrell and do a little spring cleaning on the tiger cages.</p> <h2 id="HVuwbU">Saturday’s Three Stars:</h2>
<h3 id="Wo3nO8">#1. Alan Espinal</h3>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">The emergence of Alan Espinal so far this season has been a huge story line for <a href="https://twitter.com/VandyBoys?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@VandyBoys</a>. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Dores?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Dores</a> on the verge of locking up an impressive home series win over Auburn. <a href="https://t.co/8TsUErES6A">https://t.co/8TsUErES6A</a></p>— Kendall Rogers (@KendallRogers) <a href="https://twitter.com/KendallRogers/status/1769122582236705035?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 16, 2024</a>
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<p id="kMYM4U">The senior catcher is having a Dom Keegan-esque senior season at the plate. Prior to this year, Espy was all (largely) untapped power potential, but this year, he’s a star. On the year, he’s batting .400/.500/.657 with 4 HR 6 2B and 20 RBI. All this while being a steady force behind the plate with a real MLB caliber arm. Though he’s only thrown out 20% of would be base stealers, the more telling number is that only 5 opposing baserunners have even attempted to swipe a bag on Espy. Today, with Futrell controlling the running game, and Espy’s cannon for an arm, running is straight lunacy. You likely will not even see an attempt.</p>
<p id="5x9m7x">As I said in the replies to the linked tweet above, he is playing his way into the upper rounds of the 2024 MLB Draft, even as a senior. I would not be shocked if he’s offered north of $500K when it’s all said and done.</p>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Bases clearing double‼️<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/VandyBoys?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#VandyBoys</a> lead, 8-3. <a href="https://t.co/pEk96yK6Bw">pic.twitter.com/pEk96yK6Bw</a></p>— Vanderbilt Baseball (@VandyBoys) <a href="https://twitter.com/VandyBoys/status/1769103050025930812?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 16, 2024</a>
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<p id="GMrLHV">Oh, and he is currently hitting .750 in SEC play.</p>
<h3 id="9jJU60">#2. RJ Austin</h3>
<p id="9ROGGg">Stone Cold RJ had a defensive miscue at 1st that would lead to two unearned War Tiger runs by the end of the inning. This has been relatively common for him as he learns the position. What matters, though, is how he repeatedly atones for this at the plate. Here was how he led off the bottom of the 1st.</p>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Big fly for 42 <a href="https://t.co/fxz7KrIRX9">pic.twitter.com/fxz7KrIRX9</a></p>— Vanderbilt Baseball (@VandyBoys) <a href="https://twitter.com/VandyBoys/status/1769080832256553158?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 16, 2024</a>
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<p id="2mWLYC">...he would go 3-4 with 3 R and 3 RBI on the day. Even with that error, his personal run production beat the entire War Tiger team. He’s not playing one of his natural positions (Chris Maldonado is out for the year with an injury), but he’s a star at the plate, and should figure out how to play the cold corner soon enough. </p>
<h3 id="DEQOjR">#3. Davis Diaz</h3>
<p id="0jAIQb">Coming into the series, Diaz was hitting around .250, and was the only Diamond Dore hitter who was not locked in at the plate coming into SEC play. </p>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Diaz drives one up the middle to put the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/VandyBoys?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#VandyBoys</a> . <a href="https://t.co/UXteuatpZ1">pic.twitter.com/UXteuatpZ1</a></p>— Vanderbilt Baseball (@VandyBoys) <a href="https://twitter.com/VandyBoys/status/1769095918371106836?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 16, 2024</a>
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<p id="D6Gob5">He finished the day 3-5 with 2 R 1 2B and 1 RBI—and raised his batting average to .275.</p>
<p id="F2RRwQ">Though I still think Jayden Davis, our perfect little baseball boy, should be batting in the 2 hole in Diaz’s stead, Diaz de los Muertos has been seeing the ball great this weekend. His defense, as always, has been stellar.</p>
<h1 id="vbT1HO">On the Mound</h1>
<h2 id="p4EC3S">Sunday 1:00pm CT on SECN+</h2>
<h3 id="WztvOD">Vanderbilt #95 Jr. LHP Devin “The Future” Futrell (2-0; 3.68 ERA; 7.36 K/9)</h3>
<h3 id="EiGpGS">vs. War Tigers #45 RS Jr. RHP Joseph “Not Long for the Sunday Starter Spot” Gonzalez (2-1; 8.38 ERA; 3.72 K/9)</h3>
<p id="hbm6SO">The Future is coming off a complete game shutout against the Illinois State Fightin’ Kevins Stallings, fully atoning for his dud against Tejas—a game we would come back and win, at least. His counterpart? He couldn’t get out of the first inning against UConn, yielding 6 runs and recording only 2 outs before getting yanked. Though he gave the War Tigers a quality start in his first start against Eastern Kentucky, pay attention to the pattern.</p>
<p id="yljv6A">2/17: 5 IP 2 H 1 R 3 BB 2 K</p>
<p id="ieMJQ0">2/24: 4 IP 2 H 3 R 2 BB 2 K</p>
<p id="kV3NBz">3/2: 2/3 IP 4 H 6 R 1 BB 0 K</p>
<p id="y3WG2L">*Skipped in the rotation, as if the pattern held, he would yield 10 R in negative ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ IP.</p>
<p id="tchx4Y">3/17: Facing perhaps the hottest offense in baseball.</p>
<p id="jdnLye">Advantage Diamond Dores.</p>
<h1 id="VA6I1v">The Lineup</h1>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Today's <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/VandyBoys?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#VandyBoys</a> starting lineup. <a href="https://t.co/tkBOf6b1Kh">pic.twitter.com/tkBOf6b1Kh</a></p>— Vanderbilt Baseball (@VandyBoys) <a href="https://twitter.com/VandyBoys/status/1769409845743198718?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 17, 2024</a>
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<p id="Y9nWLK">See you in the comments.</p>
https://www.anchorofgold.com/2024/3/17/24103753/sunday-game-thread-vs-the-auburn-war-tigersAndrew VU '042024-03-17T11:44:10-04:002024-03-17T11:44:10-04:00Colin Smith to enter the transfer portal, per report
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<img alt="Syndication: The Tennessean" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/2SXHFYLpkfyymLbksIcBW4bm0L0=/0x61:3556x2432/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73213237/usa_today_21843956.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Mark Zaleski / The Tennessean / USA TODAY NETWORK</figcaption>
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<p>The exodus... continues.</p> <p id="IIqBp6">The second member of Vanderbilt’s 2023-24 men’s basketball team is entering the transfer portal:</p>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">NEWS: Vanderbilt sophomore forward Colin Smith plans to enter the transfer portal, a source tells <a href="https://twitter.com/On3sports?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@On3sports</a>.<br><br>The former 4⭐️ recruit averaged 7.1 PTS and 6.6 REB this season, appearing in only six games due to injury. <br><br>Story: <a href="https://t.co/I6fufsFLZR">https://t.co/I6fufsFLZR</a> <a href="https://t.co/XuMsrUBEn0">pic.twitter.com/XuMsrUBEn0</a></p>— Joe Tipton (@TiptonEdits) <a href="https://twitter.com/TiptonEdits/status/1769378167582539893?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 17, 2024</a>
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<p id="Jf6EVW">We’d blame the coaching change, but the annual exodus to the transfer portal was a regular feature of the Jerry Stackhouse era. Stackhouse signed 14 high school players from 2019-22 and just two, Jordan Wright and Tyrin Lawrence, played four years at Vanderbilt — and at this stage, only one more (Paul Lewis) is even still in the program, and we’ll see how long he lasts.</p>
<p id="7a63LU">Smith showed promise as a freshman, as you’d expect from a four-star recruit, and then he appeared to regress early in the 2023-24 season before missing the rest of the season with an Achilles injury. I’m sure this won’t be the last transfer out of the Vanderbilt program; whoever the new coach is will have his work cut out for him to field a team next season.</p>
https://www.anchorofgold.com/2024/3/17/24103883/colin-smith-to-enter-the-transfer-portal-per-reportTom Stephenson2024-03-17T11:29:37-04:002024-03-17T11:29:37-04:00Selection Sunday Open Thread
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<img alt="COLLEGE BASKETBALL: MAR 13 SEC Tournament - Vanderbilt vs Arkansas" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/ECcaJkElNi7YxcFQdtJI6DueoAY=/0x0:5418x3612/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73213217/2074397009.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Photo by Matthew Maxey/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images</figcaption>
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<p>...eventually we’ll find out if the women’s team made the tournament.</p> <p id="n2fhaa">Five last bids to the NCAA Tournament to be decided. Really, three final bids will be decided today, because both the SEC and Big Ten finals feature two teams that are certainly in the tournament.</p>
<p id="JrzWtG">And then the other three...</p>
<p id="H9TLdF"><strong>Ivy League championship: Brown vs. Yale (11:00 AM CT, ESPN2): </strong>Brown is 12-17 and has made the tournament twice, ever, and one of those was the very first tournament ever played in 1939.</p>
<p id="bI9HI9"><strong>SEC championship: Florida va. Auburn (12:00 PM CT, ESPN): </strong>Both of these teams are solidly in the field; Florida last won the <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/sec-basketball-tournament">SEC tournament</a> in 2014, Auburn in 2019.</p>
<p id="jdl7st"><strong>Atlantic 10 championship: Duquesne vs. VCU (12:00 PM CT, CBS): </strong>Here’s regular NCAA Tournament participant VCU, facing Duquesne, which hasn’t been since 1977. I think we all know who to root for here.</p>
<p id="YHovdg"><strong>American championship: Temple vs. UAB (2:15 PM CT, ESPN/ESPN+): </strong>Just barely over a week ago, the line on a Temple-UAB game went from 2 to 8, UAB won by 28, and some gambling integrity unit investigated because that wasn’t the first time the line had moved heavily against Temple and then Temple got blown out. Anyway, it’s spectacularly weird that they’ve now won four games in four days and could make the NCAA Tournament with a win today.</p>
<p id="0pu29D"><strong>Big Ten championship: Wisconsin vs. Illinois (2:30 PM CT, CBS): </strong>The annual last game before the Selection Show, neither of these teams has anything to be concerned about.</p>
<p id="4VxucL"><strong>NCAA Men’s Selection Show (5:00 PM CT, CBS): </strong>Not really of any concern to us, except as general college basketball fans.</p>
<p id="RpdJIS"><strong>NCAA Women’s Selection Show (7:00 PM CT, ESPN): </strong>Is Vanderbilt in or out?</p>
https://www.anchorofgold.com/2024/3/17/24103873/selection-sunday-open-threadTom Stephenson2024-03-16T18:30:00-04:002024-03-16T18:30:00-04:00Coaching Search Profile: Josh Schertz
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<img alt="COLLEGE BASKETBALL: MAR 09 MVC Arch Madness - Indiana State vs Northern Iowa" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/qrwVF8prtlkqSi2OUemBIi0TDwk=/0x45:1931x1332/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73212320/2064221901.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Photo by Keith Gillett/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images</figcaption>
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<p>The longtime Lincoln Memorial head coach has proven himself in the MVC.</p> <h3 id="pfmUI4">Josh Schertz</h3>
<p id="ZeftMO"><strong>Age: </strong>48</p>
<p id="6nKdsS"><strong>Current job: </strong>Indiana State head coach</p>
<p id="rxGjEu"><strong>Previous jobs: </strong>Head coach at Lincoln Memorial; assistant coach at High Point, Queens, and Lynn</p>
<p id="SCzSLG"><strong>Career head coaching record: </strong>397-107 (.788)</p>
<p id="CF6mB9"><strong>Career Division I head coaching record: </strong>60-38 (.612)</p>
<p id="cBaxG2"><strong>NCAA Tournament appearances: </strong>0 (Division I); 9 (Division II)</p>
<p id="mbKAKQ">Vanderbilt has had a lot of success hiring coaches from the Missouri Valley Conference; both Eddie Fogler (Wichita State) and Kevin Stallings (Illinois State) won in that league before coming to Vanderbilt. So it makes sense that Vanderbilt would take a look at the guy who won the league this year, Indiana State’s Josh Schertz.</p>
<p id="X08QZF">Indiana State might get into the NCAA Tournament as an at-large team after losing to Drake in the finals of Arch Madness, but either way, Schertz is a formidable candidate. Prior to his current three-year stint at Indiana State, Schertz spent 13 seasons as the head coach at Lincoln Memorial in Harrogate, Tennessee, and won big there; we’re talking about nine NCAA Tournament appearances in 13 years (plus a 32-1 record in 2019-20, when the tournament was cancelled) and three Final Fours, with a runner-up finish in 2016.</p>
<p id="d1YbvX">At Indiana State, he’s taken the team from 11-20 in his first season to 28-6 this season, including a one-week stint in the AP Top 25 lest you think he’s merely coaching a good mid-major team. Indiana State has been ranked in the AP Top 25 for a total of 23 weeks in school history, and 22 of those were when Larry Bird was playing for them. So, yeah... impressive.</p>
<p id="6YgUxQ"><strong>Why he’d be a good fit: </strong>Guys who win a lot at levels below Division I actually have a pretty good track record in Division I; both Bo Ryan (who won four national titles in Division III) and Bruce Pearl (a national title winner in Division II) fit this bill. (Though it does seem that hiring them <em>directly </em>to a Power 5 school doesn’t go well; see Kim Anderson at Missouri.) Coaching acumen translates even if you maybe have to figure out how to recruit the type of players you need to win at higher levels.</p>
<p id="feNbQT"><strong>Why it wouldn’t work: </strong>A key distinction with Ryan and Pearl is that both were power-conference assistants, Ryan at Wisconsin and Pearl at Stanford and Iowa, before their sojourns into lower levels. Schertz has never worked at this level, even as an assistant.</p>
<p id="ap2A5P"><strong>Would he take the job? </strong>It really depends on who else is after him. Is Vanderbilt the best job he can get? What’s more, Indiana State’s top five scorers this season were all sophomores and juniors; he could elect to run it back at Indiana State and see what’s available next offseason.</p>
<p id="WzRm2G"><strong>Overall thoughts: </strong>Of the lists that have been circulating, Schertz might offer the best combination of upside (he’s been to Division II Final Fours) and floor (it’s hard to imagine a coach this accomplished being outright <em>terrible</em> at VU.) The more I look at it, he’d probably be my pick if Chris Mack isn’t available — what’s more, he can probably bring much of his roster with him from Indiana State.</p>
https://www.anchorofgold.com/2024/3/16/24103305/coaching-search-profile-josh-schertzTom Stephenson2024-03-16T14:23:52-04:002024-03-16T14:23:52-04:00Saturday Game Thread: vs. The Auburn University War Tigers
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<img alt="Tiger from Kharkiv Ecopark in Dnipro" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/mAMsLb88Doh37BSFMgRndMno_og=/0x0:5184x3456/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73211999/1239858197.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Despite all his rage, he’s still just a cat in a cage... | Photo credit should read Mykola Miakshykov / Ukrinform/Future Publishing via Getty Images</figcaption>
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<p>The Diamond Dores run ruled the War Tigers in the 8th 11-1, winning when our perfect little baseball boy, Jayden Davis tripled, then scored on a WP.</p> <p id="CvAuvt">Well that was fun. For all the War Tigers’ Chonky Boi Power bluster, Rev. Holton Heat and the Seiber Punk shut them down, collectively allowing only 1 run on 5 hits. Our bats, however, were alive and kicking. 11 runs on 13 hits. You know things are going well when you don’t even notice the 8 guys left on base.</p>
<p id="rCFf4s">Today, we turn to the Big Righty. Bryce Cunningham, do what you did in your last two starts (please and thank you).</p>
<p id="qxHB2S">Oh, and as for the stars of the game?</p>
<h3 id="VOJx99">#1. Carter Holton</h3>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">C. Holt highlight reel. <a href="https://t.co/WHeAGnk1ax">pic.twitter.com/WHeAGnk1ax</a></p>— Vanderbilt Baseball (@VandyBoys) <a href="https://twitter.com/VandyBoys/status/1768829539915059558?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 16, 2024</a>
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<p id="j95iAX">Our Friday Ace continued to pitch like one, and, honestly, could have completed this game had Brownie let him stay out there for the 8th. He picked up his 3rd win and put up the following line: 7 IP 4 H 1 R 1 BB 9 K in 94 pitches (68 strikes). Straight gas, homey.</p>
<h3 id="pDKWos">#2. Jayden Davis</h3>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Boom. <br><br>4️⃣-hit night for <a href="https://twitter.com/JaydenDavis191?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@JaydenDavis191</a> <a href="https://t.co/Pk496B3m0A">pic.twitter.com/Pk496B3m0A</a></p>— Vanderbilt Baseball (@VandyBoys) <a href="https://twitter.com/VandyBoys/status/1768814777609154794?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 16, 2024</a>
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<p id="tX0h3P">Our perfect little baseball boy NEEDS to be our #2 hitter, and this has been so brutally obvious all year. Not only does he do all the little things right, but his impeccable bat control could allow us to put on the hit and run play and open every game with runners on 1st and 3rd (provided Austin reached). Oh, and he’s no gimmick guy, either. While we were a little worried about how he would fare once we jumped from his competition last year at Samford and this year during OOC play (which is basically the same level), he completely dominated The War Tigers Friday Ace Chase Catsup, spraying spicy mustard balls all over the field to the tune of 4-5 with 3 R and 2 RBI. Oh, and one of them was the triple that eventually iced this one (after he scored on a WP) posted above. (Kisses Davis on the forehead before tucking him in.)</p>
<h3 id="3g3qnY">#3. Jonathan Vastine</h3>
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<p lang="ht" dir="ltr"> 404 ft | ☄️106 mph <a href="https://t.co/deFLEra2hX">https://t.co/deFLEra2hX</a></p>— Vanderbilt Baseball (@VandyBoys) <a href="https://twitter.com/VandyBoys/status/1768784180744482861?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 15, 2024</a>
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<p id="fQ0FJ5">Sure, he only went 1-4, but that one... what a super-charged beauty of a Ken Griffey Jr. swing that 3 run Donger was.</p>
<h1 id="xaYPZ6">On the Mound</h1>
<h2 id="p4EC3S">Saturday @ 2:00pm CT on SECN+</h2>
<h3 id="1sf00V">Vanderbilt #97 Jr. RHP Bryce “Big Richie” Cunningham (2-0; 2.61 ERA; 13.50 K/9)</h3>
<h3 id="EiGpGS">vs. War Tigers #24 Jr. LHP Carson “Carnac Powers” Myers (1-1; 3.63 ERA; 6.75 K/9)</h3>
<p id="IGyFfO">A pitch to contact lefty? That heater better not be lukewarm...</p>
<h1 id="VA6I1v">The Lineup</h1>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Today's <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/VandyBoys?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#VandyBoys</a> starting lineup. <a href="https://t.co/V6gGBABIvV">pic.twitter.com/V6gGBABIvV</a></p>— Vanderbilt Baseball (@VandyBoys) <a href="https://twitter.com/VandyBoys/status/1769062754219065349?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 16, 2024</a>
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<p id="LPiMBb">See you in the comments.</p>
https://www.anchorofgold.com/2024/3/16/24102946/saturday-game-thread-vs-the-auburn-university-war-tigersAndrew VU '04