Vanderbilt Baseball Notebook: Ryker Waite’s Bat Stays Hot, Hamilton Goes the Distance, A Big Road Series Ahead – Sports Illustrated

NASHVILLE – Vanderbilt shortstop Ryker Waite hit a bouncer off the ground to Belmont starting pitcher Andrew Perry with runners on second and third base. Waite used his speed to get to first base before Perry threw the ball past his first baseman, Jake Maddox.
The error not only helped Vanderbilt get its first two runs on the board, but Waite also was able to advance to second base. It was the first of Waite’s two hits of the night. His 2-for-2 night against Belmont made it his fourth game in the last five that he has had multiple hits in a game.
Though Waite entered the game hitting .326 for the season, it has not always been smooth sailing for the sophomore this season. In the middle of March, Waite went on a six-game stretch in which he went 1-for-18 at the plate against LSU, Indiana and the first two games of Vanderbilt’s series at Mississippi State.
Clearly, Waite has turned a corner as the final stretch of March concluded Tuesday night. Breaking it down, Vanderbilt head coach thinks that Waite’s resurgence has been helped by his discipline at the plate.
“He’s just a good player. He plays hard all the time. He’s just into it. What I think is the biggest difference with him is pitch discernment. He’s just doing a good job of understanding the strike zone. We haven’t seen him leave the strike zone too often. I think he’s doing a really good job of taking his walks and getting off good swings,” Corbin said.
Waite’s improvement has been more than noticeable. After just playing in eight games his freshman season, Waite has been a strong source of offensive production in the Commodores’ batting order with 32 hits and 23 RBIs on the season.
In fact, his improvement has been so large that Corbin feels it has been a while since he’s had a player as improved as Waite.
“He’s one of the most improved players we’ve had in our program in a while. From a guy who just didn’t play much last year to what he’s doing right now,” Corbin said.
Waite did exit the game after the fifth inning though after getting caught stealing third base. Corbin said that as Waite slid into third base, his foot turned on the third baseman's foot and Corbin decided to take him out to be cautious.
It is not often where a freshman is able to give it his all and throw a complete game, especially during a midweek game. Moreover, considering the depleted pitching Vanderbilt continues to deal with this season, any pitcher throwing a complete game is a true luxury.
But that is exactly what happened Tuesday night when freshman pitcher Connor Hamilton started and finished the game. Hamilton threw all nine innings, allowing seven hits, three runs – two of them earned – and striking 11 batters. That all totaled up to 116 pitches.
“I think that’s the most pitches I’ve ever thrown in a game, so that was fun to just go out there and keep staying locked in and finishing,” Hamilton said. “Me, coach Brown [associate head coach Scott Brown] and Herb [Quality control staff member Tyler Herb] have just been talking about staying relaxed. So, if you saw me in the dugout, I was just sitting there. I wasn't thinking about anything. I was just in a flow state and I was just locked in the whole time.”
Hamilton’s ability to stay relaxed and calm seemed to be the secret to being able to stay in the game all night. But more importantly, Hamilton’s start was big for the team in the sense that it does not use up any energy of the other pitchers available.
While Vanderbilt does have an off day Wednesday, the weekend series against Texas A&M this weekend is a Thursday to Saturday series, furthering the importance of Hamilton’s complete game.
“He did it for the team. I mean, we’re in a situation where we get a short week and played four games this weekend. That’s everything you could potentially ask for right there. I thought he did an outstanding job. He’s never done that before, so to think that he could do that as a freshman and help the team in the manner that he did, it was really good,” Corbin said.
After Vanderbilt swept No. 21 Tennessee over the weekend, Tommy Goodin said postgame that he had felt that the Commodores had turned a corner on its season just a week after they were swept at Mississippi State.
“I think this could be a really good turning point for us,” Goodin said after hitting a walkoff grand slam against the Volunteers Sunday. “I think it'll be very huge, and I think this is a very big, big boost.”
But one point of caution fans may still have about this Vanderbilt team is how it has played away from home this season. The Commodores have a 17-4 record at home this season, but away from home they have looked like a much different team and the numbers show it.
Vanderbilt is 1-8 in neutral site and road games this season and in need of showing some life away from home.
Corbin shares that same point of caution before he himself declares whether his team has turned a corner. It’s one thing if Vanderbilt wins a lot at home, but it is a totally different feel and attitude toward this team if it starts to win away from home as well.
“We need to establish whether we can win on the road. I mean, we’ve been good on the road in our history here, but history means nothing. We haven’t done anything on the road this year,” Corbin said. “I think that’s a very fair question. Can this team win on the road? We’ll see, we’ll see. I’m interested in finding that answer out, too, as much as you guys are.”
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Graham Baakko is a writer for Vanderbilt Commodores On SI, primarily covering football, basketball and baseball. Graham is a recent graduate from the University of Alabama, where he wrote for The Crimson White, WVUA-FM, WVUA 23 as he covered a variety of Crimson Tide sports. He also covered South Carolina athletics as a sportswriting intern for GamecockCentral.
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