2015 Nashville Regional
(capsules compiled by Sean Ryan, Phil Stanton,
Will Merritt, Jackson Proffitt, John Whittle)
1. Vanderbilt Commodores
Nashville,
Tennessee
At-large bid
from Southeastern Conference
2015
record: 42-19,
20-10
Head
coach: Tim
Corbin (Ohio Wesleyan, 1984)
Record at
school:
558-269, 13 years
Overall
record: 664-407,
18 years
Assistant
coaches: Scott
Brown, Travis Jewett
Team
offense: .289
BA, 404 R, 57 HR, .453 SLG%, .381 OBP%, 90-122 SB
Team
pitching:
3.08 ERA, 557.2 IP, 443 H, 262 BB, 598 K, BAA .220
Top
hitters: Dansby
Swanson (.350/13/58), Zander Wiel (.320/12/57), Will Toffey
(.307/4/40), Rhett Wiseman (.300/13/41)
Top
pitchers: Carson
Fulmer (11-2, 1.97 ERA, 100.2 IP, 67 H, 38 BB, 136 K), Walker
Buehler (3-2, 3.18 ERA, 73.2 IP, 76 H, 24 BB, 74 K), John
Kilichowski (3-3, 3.07 ERA, 58.2 IP, 48 H, 13 BB, 61 K), Phil
Pfeifer (4-4, 4.06 ERA, 5 SV, 71.0 IP, 57 H, 36 BB, 91 K)
Last NCAA
appearance: 2014
(College World Series champions)
Notes:
Carson Fulmer, named SEC Pitcher of the Year and first-team
All-SEC, won the Triple Crown of pitching leading the SEC in
wins (11), ERA (1.51) and strikeouts (132) during the regular
season. … Shortstop Dansby Swanson, who is third at his high
school in 3-pointers made and three-year letterwinner in
basketball, was second-team All-SEC but is a projected top 15
pick by most in the MLB Draft. … Alexander Wiel’s father, Randy,
was a basketball player and later an assistant coach at North
Carolina. … The Vanderbilt pitching staff leads the SEC in
strikeouts (598) by a wide margin. Texas A&M’s staff is second
in strikeouts with 494 this season.
2.
Radford Highlanders
Radford, Virginia
Automatic bid – won Big
South Tournament
2015 record:
20-4, 43-14 (first in Big South)
Head coach:
Joe Raccuia (Radford, 1995)
Record at school:
245-188-1, eight years
Overall record:
303-259-1, 10 years
Assistant coaches:
Mark McQueen, Alex Guerra, Justin Willard
Team offense:
.294 BA, 391 R, 43 HR, .434 SLG%, .391 OBP, 92-130 SB
Team pitching:
3.71 ERA, 504.2 IP, 479 H, 167 BB, 410 K, .251 BAA
Top hitters:
Josh Gardiner (.368/3/22/18-22 SB), Patrick Marshall
(.337/12/57), Shane Johnsonbaugh (.329/7/42), Brad Keen
(.326/3/39), Chris Coia (.298/0/24), Danny Hrbek (.295/3/31),
Josh Reavis (.286/2/39), Hunter Higgerson (.275/6/52)
Top pitchers:
Daniel Bridgeman (6-2, 0.63 ERA, 28.2 IP, 17 H, 10 BB, 23 K),
Ryan Meisinger (5-0, 15 SV, 1.75 ERA, 36 IP, 24 H, 7 BB, 62 K),
Kyle Palmer (2-0, 2.00 ERA, 27 IP, 17 H, 13 BB, 20 K), Michael
Boyle (10-2, 2.27 ERA, 99.1 IP, 79 H, 35 BB, 85 K), Zack Ridgely
(4-1, 3.13 ERA, 46 IP, 43 H, 8 BB, 38 K), Dylan Nelson (6-3,
3.97 ERA, 81.2 IP, 84 H, 27 BB, 53 K)
Last NCAA
Appearance:
First appearance
Notes:
Radford is making its debut in the NCAA Tournament after winning
15 straight and 35 of 39 to close a season in which it won the
Big South regular-season and tournament title. Coach Joe Raccuia
inherited a program that had won 32 games combined in the three
seasons before he arrived, and he’s averaged 30 wins a year his
eight seasons at his alma mater. Pitching coach Mark McQueen
formerly was the head coach at Richmond and a one-time national
assistant coach of the year while at VCU. Staff ace, lefty
Michael Boyle, was a .500 pitcher last year and has turned into
a pro prospect in limiting opponents to a .219 average. Daniel
Bridgeman and closer Ryan Meisinger have been lights out in the
bullpen. Second baseman Josh Gardiner has been a four-year
starter and the spark plug of the Highlanders. Radford players
who have reached the Major Leagues include Phil Leftwich and
Eddie Butler.
3. Indiana Hoosiers
Bloomington, Indiana
At-large bid from Big Ten
Notes: Indiana is in
the field for the third straight year, the first for first-year
coach Chris Lemonis, who took over when Tracy Smith left for
Arizona State. This is the first time in school history IU has
been to three straight tourneys. The Hoosiers have won 11 of 14
and claim 15 wins against Top 50 teams in the RPI. Lemonis came
to Indiana this year after assisting at Louisville since 2007.
The Hoosiers employ a deep pitching staff – nine pitchers have
logged more than 30 innings, with Jake Kelzer leading the way
with 70.1 innings. Closer Ryan Halstead has 51 strikeouts and
five walks. Craig Dedelow (.489 slg) and Casey Rodrigue (.457)
provide the most punch in a lineup that has many new faces from
the past two years. One mainstay is Scott Donley, who led the
team with a .325 average.
4. Lipscomb Bisons
Nashville, Tennessee
Automatic bid - won Atlantic Sun tournament
Notes: The Bisons
appear in the NCAA tourney for the second time, with the only
other appearance in 2008 – that time, they upset No. 1 seed
Georgia before dropping games to Georgia Tech and Georgia.
Lipscomb is on a seven-game winning streak heading into a
matchup with Vanderbilt, which it beat 3-1 earlier this year.
That started a streak of 15 straight road wins leading into the
tournament. Coach Jeff Forehand is a Nashville native who went
to school at Belmont. Ian Martinez-McGraw has 16 wins in his
first two years. Grant Massey leads the team with 18 stolen
bases, and Lipscomb ranks 20th in the nation with 90 swipes.
Jonathan Allison packs some punch with 16 doubles and seven
homers to go with 10 steals.
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