Vanderbilt baseball equipment OMAHA, NE – JUNE 23: A general view of batting gear before game one of the College World Series Championship between the Vanderbilt Commodores and the Virginia Cavaliers on June 23, 2014 at TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha, Nebraska. (Photo by Peter Aiken/Getty Images)

Vanderbilt is in mourning today after freshman pitcher Donny Everett drowned in a lake in Tennessee.

According to a report from The Tennessean, Everett drowned in the lake Thursday night. Emergency crews were called to respond to the drowning around 5 p.m. on Thursday. An ambulance was sent to the scene, but there have been no details about the incident other than that at this time. The Tennessee paper says the spot Everett was found is a popular place for fishing and swimming.

Vanderbilt AD David Williams released a statement about Everett’s death.

“We learned last night of the tragic death of Donny Everett, an outstanding young man who exemplified the best of our university. As you can imagine, the team, the athletic department and the university are trying to come to terms with this tragedy. His parents and loved ones are on our minds and in our prayers as we share in their grief.”

Baseball America had Everett ranked as the No. 21 player in the Baseball America 500 a year ago with a fastball reaching 98 mph on the radar gun. He was drafted by the Milwaukee Brewers in the 29th round at age 19, but didn’t sign and fulfilled his commitment to Vanderbilt. He just wrapped up his freshman season by appearing in 12 games and recording a 1.50 ERA after missing some playing time due to injury.

Vanderbilt is scheduled to host Xavier in NCAA Regional tournament action on Friday. The status for the game has not been decided at this time as the university continues to gather information. The other teams in the Vanderbilt regional are UC Santa Barbara and Washington.

[The Tennessean, Baseball America]

About Kevin McGuire

Contributor to Athlon Sports and The Comeback. Previously contributed to NBCSports.com. Host of the Locked On Nittany Lions Podcast. FWAA member and Philadelphia-area resident.