FROM COLLEGIATE BASEBALL RELEASE

Armed with one of the top pitching staffs in the nation and five returning position player starters, Vanderbilt is ranked No. 1 in Collegiate Baseball’s Fabulous 40 NCAA Division I pre-season poll presented by Big League Chew bubble gum.

Vanderbilt Celebration 2014 CWSThe defending national champions feature four Louisville Slugger pre-season All-Americans including RHP Carson Fulmer (7-1, 10 SV, 1.98 ERA, 98 K), RHP Walker Buehler (12-2, 2.64 ERA, 111 K), SS Dansby Swanson (.333, 27 2B, 34 RBI, 22 SB) and LF Bryan Reynolds (.338, 24 2B, 54 RBI, 14 SB).

The pre-season poll factors in voting by NCAA Division I coaches across the nation, how a team finished last season, returning position player starters and pitchers, potential draft picks along with the quality of its recruiting class last fall.

There are a number of compelling reasons to pick Vanderbilt as the pre-season No. 1 team. At the top of the list is the Commodores’ pitching staff which features two pre-season All-Americans in Fulmer and Buehler.

Both are expected to be first round draft picks next June. Fulmer has a mid to upper 90s fastball in addition to a plus slider and developing change. Buehler fired pitches from 92-95 mph during the summer in the Cape Cod League.

Vanderbilt also has RHP Tyler Ferguson back (8-4, 2.69 ERA, 65 K, 30 BB), closer Hayden Stone (3 SV, 4-0, 1.71 ERA, 23 AP, 80 K, 14 BB) and LHP John Kilichowski (1.57 ERA, 13 AP, 22 K).

If that wasn’t enough, LHP Philip Pfeifer returns after a year away from the baseball team after failing to meet “team standards.”

He was superb last fall as his fastball was consistently at 89-92 mph. Pfeifer set the Tennessee prep record with a 46-4 career record, won four state titles at Farragut H.S. in Knoxville, Tenn. and set a state mark with 465 strikeouts during his career.

As far as position players, Vanderbilt returns five starters, including two Louisville Slugger pre-season All-Americans in Swanson and Reynolds.

The Commodores swiped 17 bases in 23 attempts over seven games at the College World Series which was three times more than any other team in the field. On defense, Vanderbilt only allowed 3 stolen bases in 13 NCAA tournament games.

The 17 stolen bases tied a College World Series record for most stolen bases.

Vanderbilt ended the season with 120 stolen bases which ranked third nationally.

Four of the top base stealers are back in 2015 with Swanson (22), Reynolds (14), Wiel (13) and Wiseman (12).

Collegiate Baseball NCAA Division I Pre-Season Poll

(As of Dec. 22, 2014)

Rank Team (2014 Record) Points

1. Vanderbilt (51-21) 494

2. Texas Christian (48-18) 492

3. Virginia (53-16) 489

4. Louisiana St. (46-16-1) 487

5. Oklahoma St. (48-18) 485

6. Florida (40-23) 483

7. Texas (46-21) 480

8. Houston (48-18) 479

9. Texas Tech. (45-21) 477

10. UCLA (25-30-1) 473

11. Florida St. (43-17) 469

12. Louisville (50-17) 468

13. Cal. Poly (47-12) 467

14. Miami, Fla. (44-19) 465

15. Oregon (44-20) 462

16. U.C. Santa Barbara (34-17-1) 460

17. Cal. St. Fullerton (34-24) 458

18. Stanford (35-26) 457

19. Arizona St. (33-24) 454

20. Mississippi St. (39-24) 452

21. South Carolina (44-18) 449

22. Rice (42-20) 446

23. Liberty (41-18) 445

24. North Carolina (35-27) 443

25. College of Charleston (44-19) 440

26. Georgia Tech. (37-27) 438

27. Kennesaw St. (40-24) 436

28. Clemson (36-25) 432

29. St. John’s (35-20) 430

30. Kent St. (36-23) 427

31. Ball St. (39-18) 425

32. Wichita St. (31-28) 424

33. Tennessee (31-23) 421

34. San Diego (34-20) 419

35. Loyola Marymount (32-24) 417

36. Arkansas (40-25) 414

37. Maryland (40-23) 412

38. Nebraska (41-21) 411

39. U.C. Irvine (41-25) 409

40. Illinois (32-21) 405

Other Teams Receiving Votes: Oregon St. (49-15), San Diego St. (42-21), Louisiana-Lafayette (58-10), Kentucky (37-25), Washington (41-17-1), Mississippi (48-21), Southern California (29-24), Alabama (37-24), Texas A&M (36-26), Arizona (22-33), New Mexico (37-20), Nevada-Las Vegas (36-25), Dallas Baptist (40-21), Indiana St. (35-18), Sacramento St. (40-24), Troy (25-32), Texas St. (30-28), Pepperdine (43-18), Grand Canyon (30-23), Miami, Ohio (30-27), Southern Mississippi (35-25), Florida International (36-20), Indiana (44-15), Sam Houston St. (43-19), Michigan (30-29-1), Central Florida (36-23), Florida Gulf Coast (39-22), Stony Brook (35-18), St. Louis (34-21-1), Seton Hall (39-15), Creighton (32-17-1), Campbell (41-21), South Alabama (22-33), Winthrop (27-30), Coastal Carolina (24-33), William & Mary (34-22), Wright St. (35-22), Central Michigan (35-23), Bryant (42-16), S.E. Missouri St. (37-20), Tennessee Tech. (40-19), Mercer (38-17), Samford (35-25), Western Carolina (37-18), Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (31-27), Southeastern Louisiana (38-25).