JACKSON, Tenn. – No. 25 Vanderbilt used a complete game effort from Walker Buehler and timely hitting to slip by Memphis 2-1 Tuesday night at The Ballpark at Jackson.
The Commodores (30-12) entered the top of the eighth inning trailing the Tigers (22-20) 1-0 but Rhett Wiseman came off the bench to single up the middle to start the inning. Ro Coleman sacrificed Wiseman into scoring position but Dansby Swanson quickly bounced into a groundout for the second out of the inning. Xavier Turner picked up the Dores with a double into the left-center field gap to score Wiseman and tie the game. On the next pitch, Bryan Reynolds found a hole on the left side of the Memphis defense between the third baseman and the foul for a double, swapping spots with Turner at second to give the Commodores their first lead of the night.
Finally given the lead, Vandy starter Walker Buehler set out to finish what he started. The right-hander used an inning ending double play to get out of the eighth but found trouble when Kane Barrow singled to open the ninth. Tucker Tubbs pushed the runner over with a sacrifice bunt but Buehler finished his first career complete game with a strikeout and a fly out to earn his team-best eighth win of the year. The sophomore was spectacular allowing one run on six hits and one walk while matching his career-high with 10 strikeouts for the third time this season. The Tigers’ lone run came in the fourth when Jake Little singled and advanced to second on a wild pitch before coming into score on Carter White’s single.
Buehler’s complete game is the first for the Commodores this season and first since Kevin Ziomek’s complete game at Oregon last March. Buehler has three 10-strikeout games this season and has now struck out 44 batters over 32.1 innings of his last five starts.
Turner and Nolan Rogers led the way for the Vandy offense with two hits apiece. Turner extended his hitting streak to 27 games with a single in the sixth to match the longest streak by a Commodore since Jason Esposito hit in 27 straight in 2011.
Memphis starter Dylan Toscano was the tough-luck loser allowing two runs on six hits with eight strikeouts over 7.2 innings.
Vanderbilt returns to Hawkins Field this weekend to host Georgia in a three-game SEC series. The Commodores and Bulldogs open the series Friday night at 6:30 p.m., play Saturday at 3 p.m. on CSS and wrap up the series at 1 p.m. on Sunday.
