It was as if a single decision ended up changing the entire weekend a few days ago as Vanderbilt was swept on the road against Alabama in a crucial series.
The Commodores dropped all three games in Tuscaloosa, but the series was going their way for the first five innings. Vanderbilt was cruising against Alabama in the first game of the series, taking a 4-1 lead in the bottom of the sixth inning in a game in which it felt like Vanderbilt had to have.
Vanderbilt starting pitcher Connor Fennell was in a rhythm on the mound as he went through 5.1 innings and gave up just one run and five hits while striking out seven batters. But then, the decision that changed the game and perhaps even the whole momentum of the series was made.
Vanderbilt head coach Tim Corbin decided to pull Fennell after just 70 pitches and put in Jacob Schulz with one out in the bottom of the sixth inning. The immediate aftermath ended up being detrimental to the Commodores as Alabama drew a walk and tied the game with a three-run home run. Alabama would eventually go on to win 5-4 off a walkoff home run.
The decision sparked plenty of conversation from fans on social media, criticizing the decision to pull Fennell. After Vanderbilt’s win against Louisville Tuesday night, Corbin broke down his decision from Thursday’s game.
“I realized that he had handled the hitters he was about to face, but it was also the third time around. And we're privy to things in the bunker, in the dugout that the regular fan isn't in terms of where we think he is effective,” Corbin said. “And if things happened differently, then it wouldn't look like, 'Okay, why'd you take him out?' But it did. And I have to own that.”
After the game, Corbin said went up to Fennell on the bus explaining the decision to him and that the decision was ultimately made for the team. Corbin did appreciate the fact that Fennell wanted to stay in the game for as long as he could. After all, Corbin refers to Fennell as a “competitive kid” by nature.
It just so happened that right after Fennell was pulled, disaster struck.
Looking back on the decision, though, Corbin said he does not have any regrets on how he handled it, nor any regrets on how he has handled his pitching staff over the past couple of weeks.
“No, I don't have any regrets about it. I mean, you regret the decision just because it blew up, and it's very easy to go back and look at it now and say, ‘Shouldn't have made that decision.’ Okay, great. When you sit in that seat and you're deciding in real time, and people haven't done that before, it's very easy to critique,” Corbin said. “All I'm worried about is coaching our kids and making the decisions that I think benefit the team. And in most cases they work out. In some cases they don’t, and that’s fine.”
The decision that ultimately led to a loss that ballooned into three consecutive losses still has lasting effects on Vanderbilt’s season as a whole. Because of the sweep, the Commodores were unable to get even one win against a team that was No. 6 in RPI. Alabama was the last team in the top 100 of the RPI that Vanderbilt is slated to face for the rest of the regular season.
Another consequence in addition to that is Vanderbilt left itself no room for error if it wants to make the NCAA Tournament. The Commodores completed the first step by beating Louisville Tuesday, but they are going to need to shut down Missouri and South Carolina before the SEC Tournament. They likely would need to win five of those six games, if not, all six games over the next couple of weekends.
However, Vanderbilt fans did get an answer they have been asking a few days for. But what happened happened. There is no time to worry about what could have been in Tuscaloosa when there is a regional streak in need of saving.
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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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