NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Pinch-hitter Ryan Davis’ RBI single in the bottom of the ninth inning lifted Vanderbilt to a 7-6 win over Tennessee in front of 2,421 fans Sunday afternoon at Hawkins Field.
The win completed the sweep for the Commodores who improved to 35-8 on the year and 12-6 in the SEC, while UT fell to 22-17 and 6-10 in conference action.
Pedro Alvarez walked to lead off the ninth of off reliever Jeff Lockwood (2-2). Ryan Flaherty then placed a perfect bunt to the right side past the charging infield to reach first and advance Alvarez to second. Aaron Everett came on in relief and struck out Shea Robin before Davis came through with his game winning single down the rightfield line.
It was the 19th come from behind win of the season for Vanderbilt which completed its first SEC series sweep since taking care of Auburn in March of last season.
The Vols had a threat of their own in the top of the ninth when Tony Delmonico walked to lead off the inning off of Cody Crowell. Casey Weathers came on in relief, his third appearance of the weekend, and threw high to first base on a pick off throw allowing Delmonico to move to second. Weathers got J.P. Arencibia to ground out to second as Delmonico advanced to third. He then struck out Yan Gomes, walked Danny Lima and struck out Jeff Lockwood to end the inning. Weathers improved to 8-2 on the year and finished the weekend with two saves and a win.
“The MVP of the weekend has got to come back down to Casey,” said Vanderbilt head coach Tim Corbin. “You talk about one game and then another game and now tonight. That is big. You can’t roll people out there three times in a row and show your cards like that and expect to do as well as he has done. He really, really has come into his own. I’m proud of him.”
UT took its first lead of the series with a five-run third inning. Yan Gomes had a two-run single and Cody Brown had a three-run double down the rightfield line with the bases loaded to account for all of the runs.
The Commodores stormed right back in the bottom of the inning with five runs of their own to tie the game at 5-5. David Macias led off the inning with a single and Dominic de la Osa singled to left with one out before Pedro Alvarez smoked a three-run homer to left to cut the lead to 5-3. Shea Robin walked and moved to third on a double to left by Matt Meingasner. Andrew Giobbi then brought both home with a single through the right side to tie the game.
VU took the lead in the bottom of the fourth when Ryan Flaherty scored from third on a wild pitch by Jeff Lockwood. Flaherty led off the inning with a single and two outs later moved to third on a single by Andrew Giobbi. Lockwood then threw wide to pinch hitter Brian Harris allowing Flaherty to score.
The Vols tied the game in the top of the seventh on a solo homer by J.P. Arencibia off of reliever Nick Christiani.
Stephen Shao started for the Commodores and pitched two scoreless innings before running into trouble in the third. He ended up giving up five runs on seven hits in 2.2 innings with three strikeouts and two walks.
Nick Christiani came on in relief in the third and pitched five innings of two-hit relief. He allowed one run while striking out four with two walks.
David Macias. Dominic de la Osa, Matt Meingasner and Andrew Giobbi each had two hits to lead Vanderbilt.
Jeff Lockwood was charged with the loss for UT after allowing two runs on five hits in 5.1 innings with five strikeouts and four walks.
The Commodores will continue its seven game homestand with a midweek contest against Tennessee Tech on Wednesday at 6 p.m., before hosting Florida for three games next weekend.
Tennessee 005 000 100 -6 9 0
Vanderbilt 005 010 001 -7 12 1
McClain, Lockwood (3), Everett (9) and Arencibia. Shao, Christiani (3), Crowell (8), Weathers (9) and Robin. W- Weathers 8-2, L- Lockwood 2-2. Sv- None. HR- UT: Arencibia (4) VU: Alvarez (12).
