College Station, Texas – One unearned run in the first inning proved too much for No. 8 Vanderbilt to overcome in a 1-0 loss at No. 2 Texas A&M in the series opener at Blue Bell Park.
Aggies’ (36-9, 15-7) leadoff hitter JB Moss put Commodores’ (35-11, 13-9) starter Jordan Sheffield’s first pitch of the night in play to third baseman Will Toffey. Toffey, however, could not come up with the grounder for an error to start the game. A ground ball to Julian Infante at first moved Moss to second and a ground ball to Connor Kaiser at shortstop pushed Moss to third with two outs. Hunter Melton’s single to left field scored Moss for the game’s only run and snap Sheffield’s 24-inning scoreless streak. The Aggies loaded the bases against Sheffield before the right-hander finished the inning to limit the damage.
Sheffield was stellar in taking the loss, giving up one unearned on six hits with no walks and five strikeouts over seven innings. Infante snagged a line drive to start a double play to end the second inning and start a streak of 11 straight Aggies retired by Sheffield. A one-out double by Boomer White finally snapped the streak in the sixth but Sheffield struck out Melton and got Ryne Birk to pop up to end the threat. The Aggies again threatened Sheffield in the seventh with back-to-back, two-out singles but again Sheffield was up to the task, striking out Moss to end the inning. Sheffield has not allowed an earned run over his last four starts, covering 31 innings.
The Commodores missed plenty of opportunities in the loss leaving 10 men on base, including six in scoring position. Two errors and a hit batter loaded the bases for the Dores in the third with two outs but Infante grounded out to shortstop to end the inning. Toffey’s second single of the night came with one out in the fourth and was followed by a Jason Delay double to put runners on second and third but Tyler Campbell struck out and Connor Kaiser grounded out to first to end that threat. Singles from Jeren Kendall and Infante in the fifth put two on and after a wild pitch Kendall moved to third with two down before Ethan Paul fanned to end the inning. The Dores looked to have tied the game in the seventh when Jeren Kendall hit a long line drive to right field but the ball hit the very top of the wall and bounced back into play for a double with one out. Texas A&M went to the bullpen for Mark Ecker, who retired the next two Commodores and start a streak of eight retired to finish the game and earn the save.
Kendall and Toffey led the Dores with two hits apiece, as the Commodores were shutout for the third time this season.
Andrew Vinson earned the win out of the bullpen for the Aggies with three scoreless innings.
Vanderbilt and Texas A&M square off tomorrow night at 6 p.m. on SEC Network. Kyle Wright gets the ball for the Commodores against Aggies right-hander Brigham Hill.
