Vanderbilt coach Tim Corbin holds the trophy as he celebrates with his players after Vanderbilt defeated Virginia 3-2 in the deciding game of the best-of-three NCAA baseball College World Series finals in Omaha, Neb., Wednesday.OMAHA, Neb. – Vanderbilt coach Tim Corbin figured last year was his baseball program’s best chance to win its first national championship.
It was the 2014 team that got the job done, starting four sophomores and two freshmen in the everyday lineup and relying on a young pitching staff.
“There was never a crack in our strong foundation,” Corbin said Thursday. “This group grew together. They were consumed with one another the last month and a half. We started off the SEC 7-8 and having played three series at home. We were about to go through the gauntlet and I remember telling my coaches and my wife that I was concerned. The next thing you know, we finish the SEC 11-4, we started winning some close games and our pitching really started to grow.”
The Commodores finished 51-21 after beating Virginia in a three-game College World Series finals. They won the school’s first national championship in a men’s sport and joined LSU (six), South Carolina (two) and Georgia (one) as Southeastern Conference teams to win baseball titles.
The contributions seemed to come from everyone.