Latest news with #WrightState
Yahoo
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Wright State stuns No. 1 Vanderbilt with historic upset in baseball regionals
The Commodores are now the first No. 1 seed to fail to reach its regional final since 1999. () Wright State pulled off a historic upset on Sunday afternoon in Nashville. Wright State stunned top-seeded Vanderbilt in its own regional in a 5-4 win on Sunday afternoon. That officially sent the No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament home before the regional final, which is something that hasn't happened under the current format — which was adopted in 1999. Advertisement The Commodores were the first No. 1 seed to be eliminated in the regionals round since UCLA fell in 2015. Vanderbilt has now been knocked out in the regional rounds for a fourth straight season. The Commodores started Austin Nye, though he faced just seven batters and gave up four runs before they pulled him. Vanderbilt started slowly crawling back into the game, and it put up three runs in the final inning in large part due to a two-run single from Mike Mancini. But RJ Austin flew out to end the game, which allowed Wright State to make it out with the one-run win. Despite the remarkable upset, Wright State — a No. 4 regional seed from the Horizon League — failed to take advantage. It had to turn around right away and take on Louisville on Sunday night, and the Cardinals rolled to a 6-0 win. The Cardinals are now advancing to the super regional. Wright State was playing in its third regional final, and its first since 2016. Advertisement Vanderbilt was the second top team to go down on Sunday. No. 2 Texas fell 7-4 to UTSA for a second straight day, which knocked the Longhorns out of the Austin regional early. That sent the Roadrunners to the super regionals for the first time in program history.
Yahoo
a day ago
- General
- Yahoo
Vanderbilt baseball first No. 1 overall seed not to reach NCAA regional final with loss to Wright State
Vanderbilt baseball became the first No. 1 overall seed to fail to reach the regional final and the fourth No. 1 seed to be eliminated in regionals with a 5-4 loss to Wright State on June 1 in the NCAA tournament. Vanderbilt's Austin Nye gave up four runs in the first inning. Vanderbilt's only hit until the ninth inning was a solo home run by Brodie Johnston in the second inning. Advertisement Mike Mancini hit a two-run single in the ninth inning to make the score 5-3. Rustan Rigdon hit a ground rule double to score one runner. RJ Austin then flew out to end the game. The Commodores did draw eight walks and reached on an error. Vanderbilt (43-18) has been eliminated in regionals four straight seasons, tying the program high under Tim Corbin, and has not advanced to the regional final in any of the last three seasons. Vanderbilt's Austin Nye has a shaky start Vanderbilt opted to start Austin Nye, its lone remaining pitcher who has seen significant time in the rotation this season. But Nye wasn't sharp, giving up four runs in the first inning including two home runs. Advertisement After that one inning, Nye was pulled from the game and replaced by Alex Kranzler. Kranzler hit as high as 98 mph with his fastball, according to the stadium gun. He largely held Wright State at bay. He allowed one unearned run in his four innings of work, walked one and struck out five. Miller Green came in for the sixth inning and escaped a jam with the bases loaded and nobody out as he got a strikeout and then induced a double play. Green recorded four strikeouts and did not allow a run in his three innings of work. Vanderbilt's offense struggles again Brodie Johnston hit his 15th home run of the season in the second inning, the most single-season home runs for a Vanderbilt player since 2021. But outside of Johnston, the offense largely no-showed the same way it had in the first two games. Advertisement Across the three games of the regional, the Commodores recorded just 10 hits, four of which were home runs. Johnston had three of those 10 hits. Aria Gerson covers Vanderbilt athletics for The Tennessean. Contact her at agerson@ or on X @aria_gerson. This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Vanderbilt baseball first No. 1 overall seed not to make regional final
Yahoo
a day ago
- General
- Yahoo
Wright St. upsets No. 1-seed Vanderbilt in NCAA Regional
NASHVILLE, Tennessee (WDTN) – Wright State baseball advanced to its first NCAA Regional Final after upsetting overall No. 1-seed Vanderbilt in Sunday's elimination game. The Raiders beat the Commodores 5-4 to end their season. This marks the first time since the inception of the NCAA Regional format that the No. 1 seed did not make the regional final. It's also the first time since 2016 that the nation's top seed did not advance to Super Regionals. Wright State jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first inning after an RBI base hit by Gus Gregory and back-to-back home runs by Boston Smith and Luke Arnold. Smith's home run was his 26th of the season and third of the weekend, increasing his Horizon League single-season home run record that he set in Friday's loss to Vanderbilt. Griffen Paige pitched a dime against the nation's top team, going eight innings, allowing just one hit and two runs with three strikeouts. Paige was relieved in the top of the ninth inning after walking his first batter. Warren Hartzell was brought in to close for Wright State with one out and runners on second and third. Vanderbilt scored three runs in the final frame to pull within a run before Hartzell induced a fly-out to end the game. With the win, the Raiders advanced to their first NCAA Regional Final appearance since 2016. Wright State will face Louisville, which has not lost yet this weekend. The Raiders and Cardinals square off at 9 p.m. Sunday. A Louisville win sends the Raiders home for the season, while a Wright State win forces a second if-necessary regional final on Monday at a time TBD. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
USA Today
a day ago
- Sport
- USA Today
What a weak, embarrassing end to No. 1 Vanderbilt's strong baseball season
What a weak, embarrassing end to No. 1 Vanderbilt's strong baseball season If you happen to see the Vanderbilt baseball team from the past few weeks, the one that won an epic series in Knoxville, swept through the SEC Tournament and earned the NCAA Tournament's No. 1 overall seed, please notify someone on campus. People are looking for those Commodores. Most of them weren't at the NCAA Regional at Hawkins Field in Nashville, Tennessee. Most of the Commodores hitters who did show up in their uniforms to lose two games in three days, ending a strong season in the weakest of fashions, were strangers. They didn't just play poorly. They played tight and timid and terrified of the moment. The opposite of this season's famously clutch performances, these Commodores wanted zero smoke. They wilted in the hazy pressure, and it only got worse as that pressure increased. A weekend that started alarming, with a close call in a 4-3 comeback victory over Wright State, turned disappointing with a 3-2 loss to Louisville, dropping Vanderbilt into the losers' bracket. Then it just got embarrassing the next afternoon, with Wright State plating four runs in the first inning and withstanding a late rally to hold on for a 5-4 victory in an elimination game, putting Vanderbilt out of its misery. NCAA BASEBALL BRACKET: National seeds, regional matchups in 2025 tournament And, truly, this was misery for any Vanderbilt fan unfortunate enough to be there to witness it. The top-seeded Commodores played 27 innings, and they trailed in all but one. Their pitching and defense, for the most part, was solid enough. But offensively? Haha. In the opener, the Commodores were no-hit for six innings by a Wright State pitcher, Cam Allen, with an ERA above 5. Against Louisville, they didn't have an extra-base hit or an RBI. Then, in the saddest of them all, Vanderbilt was silenced by another Raiders pitcher, Griffen Paige, who opened the game with an ERA of 8.90. Paige allowed one hit – ONE! – in eight innings. For the regional, Vanderbilt batted .132 and didn't get its first hit of the regional with a runner in scoring position until down to its final out in the final game. Prior to that, Vanderbilt started the regional 0-for-14 with runners in scoring position. Bad luck. Bad at-bats. Bad swings. Bad everything. Such a thorough humbling for the tournament's No. 1 overall seed, while stunning, would've been even more so if it didn't continue a rough narrative for the home team. SUPER REGIONALS: Which teams have advanced in NCAA baseball tournament This NCAA Tournament is no longer the Commodores' playground. It's now their house of horrors. Since losing in the College World Series' final game in 2021, Vanderbilt has failed to make it out of an opening regional for four consecutive years and counting. Its record in NCAA games the past three years is 2-6 (four losses were at Hawkins Field) and there are losses to Xavier, High Point and Wright State. Last season's 0-for-2 showing in an NCAA regional (including that High Point loss) seemed a turning point for a declining Vanderbilt program that appeared to get its act together in 2025. These Commodores were a good team that had some good moments. Most notably, they regained control of the in-state rivalry against Tennessee, punctuating it with a blowout win over the Vols in the SEC Tournament. The No. 1 seed was a nice, surprise bonus, too. But in college baseball, none of it means much without success at the end of the season. And that is when Vanderbilt's baseball program has picked up a habit of shrinking from the challenge. This was a priceless opportunity to change the narrative by proving otherwise. Instead, with Vanderbilt's regional embarrassment of 2025, that narrative is stronger than ever. And it's impossible to dispute. Reach Tennessean sports columnist Gentry Estes at gestes@ and hang out with him on Bluesky @
New York Times
a day ago
- Entertainment
- New York Times
Vanderbilt baseball becomes first No. 1 overall seed to not make a regional final
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Tim Corbin's second Vanderbilt baseball team to enter the NCAA Tournament as the No. 1 overall seed became arguably his biggest tournament disappointment — perhaps the biggest tournament disappointment. Vanderbilt is the first No. 1 seed to not reach a regional final after falling 5-4 to Nashville Regional No. 4 seed Wright State at Hawkins Field. The Commodores (43-18) lost two of three games on their home field, managing 10 runs and a .132 average in those games. They had to come back late to beat Wright State (40-20) in the opener before falling to Louisville on Saturday — it's Louisville and Wright State for a spot in the super regionals — and Vanderbilt led for just one of the 27 innings it played. Advertisement Miami in 1999 and Tennessee in 2024 are the only No. 1 seeds to win the College World Series. Vanderbilt in 2025 is the No. 1 seed that was furthest from doing so. 'I think they're all surprising when you lose,' Corbin said when asked if this is his biggest tournament disappointment. 'When you're out, you're out. There hasn't been a day when we've been out of the tournament where I don't feel the same way. Right now, at this moment, I feel great about the effort and how hard we played. I just wish the outcome was different for the boys. That stings. But that's the nature of the game. It's cruel. It can be cruel.' Florida and No. 7 seed Georgia also were eliminated Sunday as part of a tough start for the SEC in this tournament, but Vanderbilt's misery stands out. Corbin, a national champion in 2014 and 2019, has failed to reach the second weekend of this tournament for the fourth straight year after coming within one win of the national title in 2021. This was not a dominant No. 1 overall seed, not like his David Price-led 2007 team that was upset by Michigan in a regional final. But it was a team on a tear, strong defensively and on the mound all season, then adding offensive punch in the latter stages of the season to win the SEC Tournament and become a serious threat for Omaha. But like the No. 6 seed Vanderbilt team of 2023, it came up small at the plate when the pressure was on. Corbin snapped at a reporter Saturday night for asking about the offensive struggles after the 3-2 loss to Louisville, but acknowledged the issues in an emotional presser Sunday and said: 'I just felt like I didn't equip (my players) properly in some way.' 'We just didn't find the holes,' said Vandy designated hitter Mike Mancini, who sparked a ninth-inning rally and would have scored the tying run on a Rustan Rigdon double — but the ball bounced into the stands in right center, forcing Mancini to stay at third. Advertisement He was still at third as RJ Austin flew out to end the game. Wright State lefty starter Griffen Paige came into the game with an 8.90 earned-run average but completely dominated the Commodores, holding them to a single hit in eight innings. Corbin said he believed this season helped his program take a step forward after a dip that has coincided with rival Tennessee's rise. But narratives in this sport are almost exclusively created in the postseason. 'I don't take anything for granted, I don't need a damn life scare to appreciate what I'm doing every day,' Corbin said. 'But you get to the ballpark, get to the yard every day and put on the pants, then the next week you put on the pants and no one is there. The locker room is cleaned out. It's a heavy, heavy hit. … It's just really, really tough. Really tough. It maxes you out.'
