HOOVER, Ala. — Vanderbilt's J.J. Bleday didn’t know Derek Jeter was in the ballpark to watch him in the SEC Baseball Tournament on Wednesday night.

So imagine how good it felt when he found out that Jeter – the former Yankees star and current Miami Marlins CEO who may draft Bleday – saw him go 5-for-5 for one of the best hitting performances in tournament history.

Well, for the low-key Bleday, it was actually just a grin and shoulder shrug.

“I had no idea until like after the game, til someone told me,” Bleday said. “Obviously, that’s pretty cool. But I was just focused on the team, focused on the win. That’s really all that mattered.”

Marlins may pick Bleday in MLB Draft

The Marlins hold the No. 4 pick in the Major League Baseball Draft, which begins on June 3. Some mock drafts project they will pick Bleday, the SEC Player of the Year and college baseball’s home run leader. MLB.com projects Miami will take California first baseman Andrew Vaughn, but it reported that Marlins scouts prefer Bleday.

Jorge Posada, another former Yankees star, also attended Vanderbilt’s game as the Marlins special adviser for baseball operations.

Jeter, Posada and other Marlins staff sat in a luxury box at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium. They saw Vanderbilt beat Auburn 11-1 by a 10-run rule in eight innings in the Commodores’ SEC Tournament opener.

Bleday shows patience, versatility in five-hit night

Bleday didn’t hit a homer. He didn’t have to. Instead, he showed his mature approach to hitting by spraying five hits to all areas of the field. He had three singles and two doubles, becoming the first player since 2003 to record five hits in an SEC Tournament game.

Bleday, a left-handed hitter, pulled one hit to right field, poked one to center field and sliced three to left field.

“He just never seems like he’s out of balance,” Vanderbilt coach Tim Corbin said. “He never seems like he’s trying to do too much. He just tries to get to the middle as much as possible. Even when he hits those home runs, it’s not like he’s trying to manufacture power. He’s just trying to get to the ball.”

Auburn coach Butch Thompson said his pitchers tried to approach Bleday in different ways, but he adjusted to every pitch.

"He's a professional," Thompson said. "That's probably the best word for him."

'35-year-old man' with home run record

Bleday leads Division I with 25 home runs, a Vanderbilt single-season record previously held by MLB All-Star Pedro Alvarez. He also has a .361 batting average and 65 RBIs entering Thursday night's game against Mississippi State.

Corbin said he also didn’t know Jeter and the Marlins brass were at the game, but he thinks his star slugger already has the mentality of a professional player.

“Mentally, he’s a 35-year-old man,” Corbin said. “For a lot of kids, the quicker they can get to maturity, the quicker they are going to see positive results. We may have helped him, but his parents have everything to do with (Bleday’s maturity). That’s a young man who has a lot of balance in his life.”

Reach Adam Sparks at asparks@tennessean.com and on Twitter @AdamSparks.