NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Belmont rallied for three runs late to beat Vanderbilt 4-1 on Tuesday night at Rose Park.
The Commodores (33-13) battled back to tie the game in the third inning after the Bruins (22-21) took an early lead in the second. Jason Delay picked up the Dores’ first hit of the day with a single to open the frame and moved to second when Jeren Kendall was hit by a pitch. A sacrifice bunt from Tyler Campbell put both runners in scoring position for the top of the lineup. Ro Coleman delivered with a ground ball to shortstop to tie the game but Rhett Wiseman struck out with Kendall at third base to end the inning. The Vandy offense came right back in the fourth inning to put Bryan Reynolds and Will Toffey in scoring position after a double steal with one out but Liam Sabino and Delay each struck out to end the threat.
Belmont took the lead for good in the sixth inning, set up by the leadoff hitter reaching base for the fourth time in six innings. The Bruins strung together three straight singles off Vanderbilt starter John Kilichowski with Matt Beaty’s single up the middle driving in the go-ahead run and chasing Kilichowski. Kyle Wright entered and recorded the final two outs to keep it a one-run game. The Bruins, however, tacked on two more runs in the eighth inning off reliever Ben Bowden to push their lead to three runs.
Vandy mounted a brief rally in the ninth, loading the bases with two outs but Coleman’s ground ball down the first base line was fielded by Beaty, who stepped on the bag to end the game.
Delay had two hits for the Commodores and threw out two base runners in the game. Kilichowski took the loss allowing two runs on eight hits over 5.1 innings.
Patrick McGrath earned the win with 7.2 strong innings. The lefty allowed one run on four hits with five strikeouts.
Vanderbilt returns to conference play on the road this weekend at Kentucky. First pitch on Friday in Lexington, Ky. is set for 5:30 p.m. CT on SEC Network+.
