NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The No. 11-ranked and top-seeded Vanderbilt baseball team fell into the elimination bracket of the Nashville Regional after suffering a 15-1 loss to fourth-seeded Xavier on Saturday at Hawkins Field.
The game — which was originally scheduled for Friday night but was postponed by severe weather — came less than 48 hours after the Commodores had learned of the death of freshman pitcher Donny Everett.
Vanderbilt (43-18) will play Washington on Saturday afternoon in an elimination game scheduled for 4:15 p.m.
Xavier, which now advances to play UC-Santa Barbara on Sunday, exploded for 13 runs in the top of the seventh to extend a 2-1 lead into a 15-1 cushion. The Musketeers (31-28) sent 18 batters to the plate during the outburst, which was highlighted by Rylan Bannon’s grand slam. Nine of the 13 runs in the inning were unearned.
Xavier had six hits during the frame and also took advantage of two Vanderbilt errors, five walks — four of which came with the bases loaded — and two hit-by-pitches. The first nine batters of the inning each reached base before the first out was recorded, and all nine came around to score.
Vanderbilt’s Jordan Sheffield (8-6) took the loss, allowing eight runs, five earned, on six hits with four walks and six strikeouts in six-plus innings.
Xavier’s Zac Lowther (7-5) earned the win, working seven innings of one-run ball with eight strikeouts. He allowed four hits and three walks.
Bannon paced the Xavier offense, going 2-for-4 with five RBIs and two runs scored. Daniel Rizzie went 3-for-4 with one RBI and two runs scored.
Ethan Paul had two hits and drove in the lone run for Vanderbilt.
The Commodores threatened to score in the bottom of the third, but Xavier’s Matt Fallon made a great play in deep center field, robbing Bryan Reynolds of a potential run-scoring double that would have given Vanderbilt an early lead.
