Vanderbilt baseball faces identity crisis after NCAA Tournament-opening loss to San Diego

CORVALLIS, Ore. — San Diego knows exactly what its identity is.

Left-hander Brycen Mautz and third baseman Jack Costello both got excited when they heard they would be playing Vanderbilt in their regional opener. An SEC school, one with two national titles and four appearances in Omaha since the Toreros last made the tournament in 2013. The two spoke of wanting to put their brand of baseball on display.

The Commodores know what their identity is supposed to be. It's the same identity that caused San Diego to put a target on their backs: the two-time national champions that make few mistakes and peak just in time for the postseason. But in Friday's NCAA Tournament Corvallis Regional opener, that identity was nowhere to be found in Vanderbilt's 3-2 loss.

Left-hander Carter Holton became the first true freshman under Tim Corbin to start a regional opener for Vanderbilt, and while he pitched relatively well, he took the loss after giving up all three runs (two earned). The trouble started in the first inning after Holton hit the leadoff batter and committed a throwing error, then shortstop Carter Young booted a potential double-play ball. He gave up two more runs on an RBI single and RBI groundout.

"When I got ahead in the counts, it led to outs; and when I didn't it led to hits," Holton said.

Still, for many Vanderbilt teams, giving up three runs in six innings would've been a good enough performance to win – just not this one. The Commodores' offense mustered just two solo home runs from Dominic Keegan and Calvin Hewett. Outside of that, they had just three infield singles and three walks (one intentional).

This year's team too often makes too many mistakes and sees its offense disappear after getting behind early. Facing Mautz, considered one of the better college left-handed pitchers in the upcoming MLB Draft, didn't help matters. Mautz threw just 75 pitches through seven innings.

"I just knew I had to get ahead early to (get) them," Mautz said. "And I had success with that today and then working the fastball in. ... I knew with a good SEC team they're going to hunt fastball, so can't let them get one get ahold of one too much and just decided to pound (the strike zone) and get the off-speed over and they got themselves out today."

That's been the game plan for beating Vanderbilt all year: throw strikes and keep the ball on the ground. Whether Nathan Dettmer at Texas A&M, Drew Beam at Tennessee or Joseph Gonzalez at Auburn, several other starters have executed the same plan and the Commodores have been unable to consistently crack the code. Vanderbilt's two spark-plugs this season, Enrique Bradfield Jr. and Spencer Jones, were 0-for-7 with a walk.

"(Mautz) was throwing a lot of strikes, his fastball must have been moving well, because we just we didn't get off a swing; or if we did get off a swing, we weren't just getting into the middle of the ball," coach Tim Corbin said. "Then he he started to mix in a slider that he was landing. He took care of the top of the lineup, which if you're going to (beat) Vanderbilt, that's a start."

The identity of a team that does better in the postseason was nowhere to be found. Now, if the Commodores hope to stay alive, they will need to win four games in a row, something they have not done since March. Instead, Vanderbilt was the same team that has now lost six of its last seven games: one that just can't get out of its own way and is on the verge of going home because of it.

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Aria Gerson covers Vanderbilt athletics for The Tennessean. Contact her at agerson@gannett.com or on Twitter @aria_gerson.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Vanderbilt baseball struggles in NCAA Tournament loss to San Diego