Vanderbilt baseball made a big deal in the offseason of saying that the performance it put on the field in 2024 wasn’t good enough. The Commodores fired hitting coach Mike Baxter and assistant Tyler Shewmaker and brought in Jayson King as hitting coach and Ty Blankmeyer as recruiting coordinator.

After all that, though, it feels Vanderbilt is back to square one offensively after getting swept at home by Arkansas by scores of 9-0 on Friday, 6-4 in 10 innings on Saturday and 7-3 on Sunday. The Razorbacks (26-3, 8-1 SEC) displayed the modern offense of an SEC title contender, hitting eight home runs across the three games. The Commodores (20-8, 4-5) couldn’t come close to keeping up.

For most of the weekend, Vanderbilt’s pitching kept up. After the blowout Friday night, Vanderbilt managed to push Saturday’s game to extra innings before losing in the 10th and held a 3-2 lead in the eighth inning of Sunday’s game before giving up five runs in that inning.

Here’s what we learned:

Vanderbilt’s offense looked hapless all weekend

In Texas A&M and Arkansas, Vanderbilt faced two of the SEC’s top pitching staffs on back-to-back weekends. The Commodores swept the Aggies while scoring 16 runs on the weekend, with seven extra-base hits. Against the Razorbacks, Vanderbilt scored seven runs and had five extra-base hits.

But Texas A&M has been the SEC’s worst offense statistically, while Arkansas has been one of the best. The Razorbacks tallied 13 extra-base hits and eight home runs and scored 11 of their 22 runs in the series via the home run. The Commodores hit just one home run, a three-run shot by Colin Barczi in Sunday’s game.

“We didn’t, they did,” Corbin said Sunday when asked why Vanderbilt hasn’t managed to get the same level of power production as other SEC teams.

Cam Kozeal torches his former team

Cam Kozeal spent his freshman season at Vanderbilt in 2024, when he started for most of the year at second base and DH. But he transferred to Arkansas in the offseason and is now a first baseman.

Kozeal had the best performance of any of the Razorbacks’ hitters across the weekend, putting up five hits and eight RBIs, including two home runs off JD Thompson in Friday’s game and one Saturday.

“Good two-strike hitting, and he sat on a couple of fastballs that weren’t located well, and he hit them hard,” Corbin said Friday of Kozeal’s performance.

DIEGO PAVIA Diego Pavia throws out first pitch at Vanderbilt baseball vs Arkansas wearing Walker Buehler jersey

Cody Bowker, Sawyer Hawks, Connor Fennell impress

Thompson got touched up Friday night, giving up five runs in six innings (four on home runs). After him, relievers Brennan Seiber, Hudson Barton and Ryan Ginther combined to give up four runs over the next three innings with seven walks.

The pitching was much better for the rest of the weekend. On Saturday, Cody Bowker gave up two runs in five innings and Sawyer Hawks followed him with one run in four innings. Miller Green took a tough-luck loss in the 10th inning as three defensive miscues − one officially scored an error and two on squeeze bunts that didn’t record an out − led to three runs for Arkansas.

“Those were two good efforts (by Bowker and Hawks),” Corbin said Saturday. “I thought Bowker did a nice job after the home run Kozeal had. He did a good job of just coming back and kind of minimizing damage. Was a real good effort by both of them. So from a pitching standpoint, we deserve to win today.”

On Sunday, Connor Fennell gave up two runs in five innings, walking just one and striking out 10. Following him was Alex Kranzler, who held Arkansas scoreless for two innings but was charged with three runs in his third inning to take the loss. Ethan McElvain, who came in after Kranzler to try to escape the inning, allowed two runs in ⅓ of an inning.

“It was good baseball,” Corbin said Sunday. “It was hard-fought baseball. Certainly on their end, there’s really good pitching to the one inning that kind of blew us up. It was one inning yesterday, too. They were good baseball games up to a certain point, and lost it late yesterday. More the same today, different set of circumstances, but results the same.”

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

The aptly named Speed King, dueling with the more substantial Bob-Baffert-trained Cornucopian cracked open a bracing eight-plus-length lead on the pack, led by Coal Battle, up the backstretch. For his part, and for most of that way, Sandman was biding his time in the back of the nine-horse field. But at the top of the backstretch, it was clear that the duel was beginning to etch at the lead pair. Their splits had been blazing: 0:22.46, 0:45.21, and 1:10.37.

Sandman’s delighted trainer Mark Casse said this after the race: “The farther they went, the more confident I was.”

In the far turn, Jockey Jose Ortiz wheeled Sandman swiftly past the pack and, heading a bit wide at the top of the stretch with not a little dirt covering them from all that time in the rear, Ortiz and Sandman switched on the afterburners. Speed King was entirely out of fuel, but his dueling partner, the Baffert-trained and highly touted Cornucopian, though fading, nevertheless stuck in the running with a certain grit.

Ortiz and Sandman hit the line two-and-a-half lengths in front of Publisher, who showed admirable kick in separating himself from the peloton and working up in behind Sandman. The tough Coal Battle held on to show. For his part, Cornucopian managed to keep his grip on fourth, earning himself and Baffert a mere 15 points toward a stall in the Kentucky gate.

Although Sandman was a known talent, hence his 3-1 odds, and will now be put under every possible analyst’s microscope prior to the Kentucky Derby, in a sense he pulled off a slight upset. For the moment, Sandman leads the Kentucky Derby leaderboard with 129 points. The extremely lightly-raced Cornucopian had gone off as the strong 8-5 favorite, with Baffert and the connections hoping for the hundred-point hit. The far more experienced Sandman simply did what he thought he should do — relax, tuck into a good position, and strike hard down the lane. Put a different way, Sandman looked like he was well ready for the one-and-a-quarter miles in Kentucky a month from now.

Adding to the fun, Sandman paid $9.40, Publisher paid $6.20, and Coal Battle paid $3.00. The athleticism was, as it is in in all of racing, breathtaking, but more impressive was the tactical prowess of the victor.

For at least a little while, there is a new leader atop the Kentucky Derby Leaderboard with 129 qualifying points ahead of the May 3 classic: Sandman .

Rallying from behind a blistering pace set by Speed King  and Cornucopian , the talented 3-year-old colt outkicked fellow closer Publisher  by 2 1/2 lengths to capture the $1.5 million Arkansas Derby (G1) March 29 at Oaklawn Park. 

Stewards briefly reviewed an erratic stretch run from Sandman, who drifted out under urging, before making no change to the order of finish. Sandman completed 1 1/8 miles on a fast track in 1:50.08, paying $9.40 to win.

Coal Battle  finished third, 4 1/2 lengths behind the runner-up. He was followed by favored Cornucopian in fourth and longshot Brereton’s Baytown  in fifth.

The Arkansas Derby awarded Kentucky Derby (G1) qualifying points on a 100-50-25-15-10 scale to its top five finishers. Sandman, who already had 29 points, now leads all other 3-year-olds on the Road to the Kentucky Derby, though he too could be passed by others racing next week.

No matter. Sandman is Kentucky Derby-bound, safely in the prestigious first leg of the Triple Crown under the points system that Churchill Downs officials use as a preference system when the Derby draws beyond its 20-horse maximum field size.

Jose Ortiz rode the winner and in a post-race interview on horseback shortly after the race, expressed his excitement to reunite with him in the Derby.

“When he entered the stretch, he exploded,” the jockey said of Sandman in the Arkansas Derby.

For a colt that did have much luck in two earlier stakes starts at Oaklawn Park earlier this year—Sandman had a disastrous start when runner-up in the Jan. 25 Southwest Stakes (G3) and left with too much to do in making a belated rally for third in the Feb. 23 Rebel Stakes (G2)—the table was set for him in the Arkansas Derby.

When front-running Speed King hooked up with the stretching-out second-time starter Cornucopian—opening up 8 1/2 lengths on Coal Battle in third by the half-mile call—the Arkansas Derby seemed primed for an off-the-pace runner to prevail.

“The farther they went (in battle), the more confident I was,” said Sandman’s trainer, Hall of Famer Mark Casse.

Splits of :22.46, :45.21, and 1:10.37 left the leaders gassed down the lane, though the lightly raced Cornucopian fought on admirably to earn a minor share. 

Coal Battle, who had beaten Sandman in Rebel, was first to pounce, taking over approaching the stretch, but the diminutive, fast-accelerating colt could keep up with the longer-striding Sandman and fellow closer Publisher late in his first race beyond 1 1/16 miles. A length behind Sandman with a furlong remaining, he finished seven lengths behind him at the finish.

Coal Battle was a bit keen early but settled down entering the first turn to stalk the pace. The Arkansas Derby marked his first loss in six dirt races.

Based on historical trends, the runner-up with 60 overall points and show finisher with 95 points have sufficient Kentucky Derby points to gain entry into the Derby.

Sandman is a gray and/or roan by Tapit   out of the Distorted Humor mare Distorted Music  owned by D. J. Stables, St Elias Stable, West Point Thoroughbreds, and CJ Stables. 

The all-time leading sire by earnings, Tapit stands for $185,000 at Gainesway Farm in Kentucky.

Sandman’s owners purchased him for $1.2 million from the Ocala Breeders’ Sales Company’s March Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training. Tom McCrocklin consigned him there as part of a complete dispersal for his breeder, Lothenbach Stables. Bob Lothenbach of Lothenbach Stables died in November 2023 at age 64.

Four of the dam’s five foals of racing age have raced, with three victorious. Sandman became his dam’s second graded stakes winner following She Can’t Sing , who captured the Chilukki Stakes (G3) at Churchill Downs in 2022. The unraced foal is a 2-year-old Into Mischief   colt.

The Arkansas Derby, the richest domestic Kentucky Derby prep race on the Road to the Kentucky Derby, has produced eight Kentucky Derby winners, including last year’s Derby winner, Mystik Dan . Mystik Dan ran third in the Arkansas Derby.

Three horses have won both races: Sunny’s Halo (1983), Smarty Jones  (2004), and Triple Crown winner American Pharaoh (2015).

Despite the blistering pace in Saturday’s Arkansas Derby, Sandman’s final time fell short of clocking over the past two years. Muth  , last year’s winner, was timed in 1:49.54, and Angel of Empire   ran 1:49.68 in taking the 2023 race.

For Casse, Sandman represents one of his best career chances to win the Derby after 10 defeats. The trainer has already won the other two legs of the Triple Crown, taking the 2019 Preakness Stakes (G1) with War Of Will   and that year’s Belmont Stakes (G1) with Sir Winston  . 

2017 Arkansas Derby winner Classic Empire , the champion 2-year-old male of 2016, gave Casse his best Derby finish in running a troubled fourth in the 2017 Derby. 

Casse believes Sandman is a horse who will relish Derby’s 1 1/4-mile distance.

“As Jose said, he wants you to get into a rhythm, and if you can get him into that rhythm, he’ll just go. Jose said he didn’t take a deep breath when he pulled up,” Casse noted

Video: Arkansas Derby (G1)

This story will be updated.