HOUSTON, Texas – Vanderbilt broke open a 3-3 tie game with four runs in the fifth to defeat Baylor 7-4 and go 3-0 at the Houston College Classic Sunday afternoon at Minute Maid Park.
Baylor starter Jeff Mandel hit David Macias to start the fifth and after a pop up, Pedro Alvarez hit a double down the left field line to have runners at second and third. The Bears then intentionally walked Ryan Flaherty to load the bases. Dominic de la Osa, who was 0-for-11 when he stepped to the plate, delivered a two-run single through the left side to give the Commodores a 5-3 lead. Shea Robin followed with a RBI single and Jonathan White added a RBI groundout to close out the scoring.
Brett Jacobson was solid in the starting effort on the mound as he gave up four runs, one earned, in 6.2 innings of work. The sophomore right hander struck out six with no walks and allowed four hits in moving to 1-0.
The lone Baylor earned run came on a solo homer by Beamer Weems in the sixth inning.
Freshman southpaw Mike Minor made his Commodore debut and pitched 2.1 innings of scoreless relief to pick up the save.
The Commodores defeated a ranked opponent in all three games this weekend and return home to play 18 of their next 20 games. Baylor fell to 0-3 on the year with the loss.
For the third straight game, the opponent got on the board first with the Bears taking advantage of a throwing error by starting pitcher Brett Jacobson to score an unearned run in the second to take a 1-0 lead.
Vanderbilt had a wild inning in the third, scoring three runs to take a 3-1 lead. Brad French led off with a single and moved to second on a bunt single by David Macias. Alex Feinberg stepped to the plate and attempted to bunt both runners over but Baylor hurler Jeff Mandel appeared to have hit him to load the bases. The umpires, however, reversed the decision saying the ball hit his bat instead for a strike. Feinberg then bunted the next pitch to third base and BU’s Raynor Campbell then threw the ball away at first allowing both French and Macias to score. Pedro Alvarez followed with a single to right and Ryan Flaherty brought Feinberg home with an infield RBI single.
An error once again played a role in Baylor scoring two runs in the bottom of the fourth to tie the game. With two outs and a runner on first Chase Gerdes hit a hard grounder to second that Alex Feinberg could not control allowing him to reach safely. Tim Jackson then followed with a two-run triple to tie the game at 3-3.
Ryan Flaherty led the Dores with three hits on the day, while Pedro Alvarez and Shea Robin chipped in with two hits each.
The Commodores will return to Nashville and open their home campaign next weekend as Ohio comes to town for a three game series. The first game is slated for a 4 p.m. start on Friday at Hawkins Field. All single-game tickets available through the month of February can be purchased for only $1. Fans can call (615) 322-GOLD for more info.
Vanderbilt 003 040 000 – 7 11 2
Baylor 010 201 000 – 4 4 1
Jacobson, Minor (7) and Robin. Mandel, Matthews (6), Jeffcoat (7), Mackey (8), Cassavechia (8) and Czimskey.
W-Jacobson 1-0. L- Mandel 0-1. Sv- Minor (1). HRs: VU:None. BU: Weems (1)
