WATCH: Meet student-athletes in the Class of 2024inspiring on and off the field [Video]

Stories by Graham HaysAccountability, drive, mental and physical excellence, and profound collaboration are hallmarks of Vanderbilt student-athletes.

Meet three scholar-athletes in the Class of 2024 who have embodied these characteristics to do inspiring things on and off the field.

Jack Bulger is almost certainly one of the only players in NCAA history who struck out on the very first pitch he saw as a collegiate student-athlete. The first-year catcher wasn’t in the starting lineup on Opening Day in 2021. But when a teammate suffered an injury during an at-bat, coaches told Bulger to grab his batting helmet and get in there. Inheriting an 0-2 count, he dug in, watched a curveball break across the plate for strike three and trudged back to the dugout.

Ted Williams famously said baseball is the only endeavor in which a person can fail seven out of 10 times and still be a success. But strike three on …