Vanderbilt is a team that believes in getting people on base. The Commodores drew an impressive 249 walks during the season, and also racked up 682 hits with a .400+ on base percentage.The Commodores have only 47 home runs on the season, but all these singles and walks get Vandy players on and brings runs home. Jason Esposito and Aaron Westlake are the two most dangerous hitters, and have the highest slugging percentages of anyone on the team by a fairly wide gap.
The Commodores pitching staff is equally deadly. Vandy has Sonny Gray and Grayson Garvin, who are a combined 25-4 and are generally lights out at the plate. Gray is 2-0 with a 0.71 ERA so far in the Tournament, and he is slated to start on Saturday against North Carolina.
Nevertheless Vanderbilt has pounded their way to the College World Series. In their road to Omaha, the Commodores outscored their opponents 46-7, including 20-4 in the Super Regional against Oregon State. If you want a hot bet to win it all, Vandy might not be a bad choice if they can keep their run going.
How do you think Vanderbilt will fare against North Carolina? Let us know in the comments!
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