The Skyhawk baseball squad (10-14) took on the No. 1 Vanderbilt Commodores (23-4) in Nashville, Tennessee on April 6, falling just short in a 4-5 setback against the defending College World Series champions.
UTM’s offense was powered by freshman outfielder (OF) Wil LaFollette, who registered two hits and an RBI in four plate appearances. Senior infielder (IF) Casey Harford contributed two RBIs, while junior infielder Blake Daniels recorded two hits and two runs.
LaFollette saw that the Skyhawks jumped out to an early lead. His double in the top of the fourth was enough to send Daniels home and Harford to third, but another run wasn’t in the books for the Skyhawks in the first. The Commodores would erase UTM’s lead in the second, as an error by Harford, allowing OF Jack Luger to reach home plate. Vanderbilt OF Cooper Davis sent another runner home for Vanderbilt giving the Commodores a 2-1 lead going into the third.
Harford made up for his error with a two-RBI homer to left field, once again giving UTM a narrow advantage at 3-2 in the third. The Commodores quickly responded in the bottom of the third, as an RBI single by infielder Dominic Keegan.
After two scoreless innings, both sides registered runs in an eventful sixth inning. Junior catcher Blake Davis‘ sacrifice fly ball in the top of the first sent freshman designated hitter (DH) Christian Hall home to give UTM a 4-3 advantage. After failing to score again in the inning, sophomore right-handed pitcher Seth Petry was sent to the mound to close out the inning.
With the bases loaded in the bottom of the sixth, Vanderbilt got on the scoreboard again after pinch hitter (PH) CJ Rodriguez was struck by a pitch, sending a Commodore home to tie the game at 4-4. Another bases-loaded walk gave Vanderbilt at 5-4 advantage, but Petry managed to get the Skyhawks out of the sixth down only one.
Unfortunately for UTM, the Skyhawks’ offense was snuffed out after the sixth. Innings seven through nine saw the Skyhawks send out three batters that all consecutively got out. A defensive clinic was all Vanderbilt needed to close out a narrow 5-4 win.
Petry was credited with the loss, allowing two runs and a hit in his sixth inning performance. Freshman RHP Tucker Reed and junior RHP Nick Wohlbold were the only pitchers in the rotation to pitch in multiple innings, allowing six total hits across the two. Of the three runs scored off of Reed and Wohlbold, only was earned.
The Skyhawks will head to Edwardsville, Illinois on April 9 to play a three-game series against the Southern Illinois University – Edwardsville (SIUE) Cougars.
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