Former Vanderbilt Standouts Riley Nelson and RJ Austin Are Reminded of Pasts in Minor League Debuts; The Anchor

Perhaps they didn’t expect to see each other on Monday night, but less than three months after their college careers ended Riley Nelson and RJ Austin checked into the same hotel in northeast Virginia and couldn’t act as if they didn’t know each other. 

Nelson and Austin are competitors rather than teammates–like they were a few months ago at Vanderbiilt–but they couldn’t help but stand on the field and smile with an arm around each other on Tuesday night. Perhaps the two have allegiances to different organizations nowadays, but their college careers and legacies will be tied together forever. So will their minor league debuts. 

As Nelson and Austin took the field for the first time as minor league players at Bank of The James Stadium, what made each of them effective as college standouts clearly hasn’t gone missing as they’ve made the move to pro ball. 

Nelson, in particular, stood out on Tuesday in a 4-for-5 performance that included three doubles and a stolen base. The swing that evaluators have claimed is unorthodox appeared to be effective as Nelson drove the ball to gaps and found the barrel nearly every time he stepped into the box. The former Vanderbilt first baseman’s Hillcats took the game 7-5.

Austin finished the night without a hit, but walked twice in his four plate appearances. 

It’s a new start for the former Vanderbilt standouts, but their respective paths had a unique way of reminding them of their past and the significance of it.

Today’s Commodores Schedule

No games or matches scheduled.

Yesterday’s Commodores Results

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Did You Notice?

Vanderbilt tight end Eli Stowers tells Vandy on SI that he’s deleted all social media in an effort to focus on his final college season as well as his faith.

The Commodores held their first scrimmage of fall camp on Saturday. Vandy on SI was in attendance and posted a position-by-position breakdown at the conclusion of the action.

Vanderbilt takes the field for a scrimmage on Sunday evening, which will be its second of the fall. 

Vanderbilt soccer players Courtney Jones (MF) Hannah McGlaughlin (D) MaryBeth McGlaughlin (D) Maci Teater (MF) Sydney Watts (F) and Sara Wojdelko (GK) were named to the SEC’s preseason watch list.

Countdown to Vanderbilt’s 2025 Football Season Opener

 18 days

Commodores Quote of the Day

“The part that has to be taught is how you can take each individual, with their strengths, and bring them into one group, especially knowing there are 35 of them but only about a third of them are going to have an opportunity to show their skill on the field at any one time. The other part of that is making sure the kids that don’t get to play on a day-to-day basis feel like their function is worthy, that they have some self-worth and what they do is just as important as anyone else on the team. I think that is the puzzle that a coach has to work through when he is trying to put a team together.”

–Tim Corbin