HOOVER, Ala. – No. 10 Vanderbilt was shut out 1-0 in the series and regular season finale Saturday by Alabama at the Hoover Met.
The Commodores (39-17, 20-10) struggled to get anything going offensively through the first four innings but the Crimson Tide (30-26, 12-18) opened the door in the fifth inning with three walks. Kyle Smith led off the inning with a walk and was moved over to second base on a Jason Delay sacrifice bunt. Tyler Campbell worked a walk to put two on for Ro Coleman. The sophomore grounded into a fielder’s choice but a two-out walk to Bryan Reynolds loaded the bases for Dansby Swanson. The junior smashed a line drive to third base where Alabama’s Kyle Overstreet snared the rocket to end the inning and rob Swanson of extra bases.
Vanderbilt starter Walker Buehler cruised through the first five innings allowing only two hits. The Crimson Tide, however, caught up to him in the sixth with three singles to scratch out the only run they needed. Buehler gave up two singles but struck out Overstreet for the second out but Cody Henry’s single into left-center field chased Georgie Salem home for the game’s only run.
The Commodores put the tying run on board with Coleman’s third hit of the day in the eighth and had the tying run at second base when Zander Wiel hit into an inning-ending double play.
Coleman led the way for the Dores with his third three-hit game of the season. Buehler took his second loss of the year allowing one run on seven hits with six strikeouts across 6.2 innings. Ben Bowden worked out of a bases loaded jam in the seventh and turned in a clean eighth inning to give Vandy a chance in the ninth.
Will Carter picked up the win for the Tide with three innings of scoreless relief. The right-hander allowed only two hits with two walks. Salem had two of Bama’s seven hits.
The Commodores return to action on Wednesday at the SEC Tournament in the day’s second game. The Dores will be the No. 2 overall seed as the East Division champion and play the winner of the Missouri vs. South Carolina/Auburn game.
