LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The middle innings proved to be the difference on Tuesday afternoon, as the Vanderbilt baseball team fell, 7-2, to 15th-ranked Louisville at Jim Patterson Stadium. With the loss, the Commodores move to 32-10 on the season, while dropping their third consecutive game.
Vanderbilt carried a 1-0 lead into the bottom of the fourth before Louisville scored six unanswered runs across the fourth and fifth innings to take a commanding lead. The two teams traded runs in the eighth, but the Cardinals would hold on for victory to hand Vanderbilt its first midweek loss since March 2019.
Commodore starter Christian Little went a career-long 5.0 innings on Tuesday, but would suffer his first loss of the campaign to move to 2-1 on the season. The right-hander allowed six earned runs on four hits and two walks, while striking out four.
After three scoreless innings to begin the game, Vanderbilt broke into the scoring column in the top of the fourth to take a 1-0 lead. With one down in the frame, Dominic Keegan connected on his eighth home run of the season. with a solo shot to right field.
Louisville answered back with a two-run frame in the home half. The scoring sequence began with a leadoff single followed by a hit-by-pitch to place runners on first and second. After a sacrifice bunt advanced both runners 90 feet, an RBI groundout to first knotted the game at one apiece. The Cardinals scored their second run of the inning on a wild pitch to move in front, 2-1 after four full.
The Cardinals returned to the dish to put up a four-spot in the fifth. After a walk and a pair of fielder’s choice placed runners on base, an RBI single up the middle brought across the first two runs of the inning. Louisville used a two-run homer to plate the third and fourth runs of the frame, extending its lead to 6-1.
The Commodores added one in the eighth to trim the deficit to 6-2. With two down in the inning, Spencer Jones notched his first career home run with a solo shot in a pinch-hit at-bat.
Louisville responded with a run of its own in the bottom half, as a solo home run extended the margin back to five and set the score at 7-2, the eventual final.
Vanderbilt returns home this weekend, welcoming Alabama for a three-game conference set. The Commodores and Crimson Tide will open the series on Friday evening at 6:30 p.m., with action airing live on SEC Network+.
