Clemson Regional • Clemson Tigers (41-14), Vanderbilt Commodores (38-21), Coastal Carolina (34-23), High Point (34-25)
Friday, May 31 vs. Coastal Carolina @ 11 a.m. CT • ESPN2
Clemson, S.C. • Doug Kingsmore Stadium
Regional Preview: Vanderbilt makes its 18th consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance this weekend, competing at the Clemson Regional as the No. 2 seed against host Clemson, 3-seed Coastal Carolina and 4-seed High Point.
- Vanderbilt owns the nation’s longest active tournament streak, making every NCAA DI Tournament since 2006.
- The Commodores will open the regional against Coastal Carolina at 11 a.m. CT Friday on ESPN2.
- Friday’s meeting will be the first between Vandy and Coastal Carolina. The Dores are 5-2 all-time vs. Clemson and have never faced High Point.
- Vanderbilt has played in a regional at Clemson twice, in 2017 and 2018, and won the regional both times.
- In 2017, Vanderbilt beat St. John’s in the opener and then played three consecutive games against the Tigers, winning the final to advance to a super regional.
- In 2018, Vandy again beat St. John’s in the opener and beat Clemson in each of the next two games to advance. Vanderbilt won the finale 19-6 using nine home runs, tying the NCAA Tournament single-game record. Connor Kaiser tied the NCAA Tournament record with 10 RBIs and homered three times to earn Clemson Regional MVP honors.
Last Time Out: Vanderbilt went 3-1 at the SEC Tournament in Hoover, Alabama, to advance to the semifinals for the fifth time since 2013.
- Vandy defeated Florida 6-3, top-seeded Tennessee 13-4 and Mississippi State 4-3 before falling to Tennessee, 6-4, in the semifinals.
- Calvin Hewett was named to the all-tournament team after hitting .429 (6-for-13) with a home run, triple, double, four stolen bases, three RBI and three runs scored.
- Bryce Cunningham (vs. Florida) and JD Thompson (vs. MSU) each went six innings in their respective starts. Cunningham held the Gators scoreless on five hits with six strikeouts while Thompson allowed just one run on five hits with eight strikeouts.
Golden Spikes Award: RJ Austin was one of 45 players named to the 2024 Golden Spikes Award Midseason Watch List.
- Austin leads Vanderbilt in RBI (51), hits (75), runs scored (47) and stolen bases (27).
- The sophomore from Atlanta was named SEC Tournament MVP last season and has a team-high 23 multi-hit games and 10 multi-RBI games this season.
Johnny V: Vanderbilt shortstop Jonathan Vastine was recently…