MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — Middle Tennessee wrapped out eight extra base hits and handed Vanderbilt an 11-8 loss Wednesday night at Reese Smith Field.
The loss dropped the Commodores to 32-8 on the year, while the Blue Raiders improved to 21-20 on the year.
The game was a back and forth affair with the game tied at 8-8 heading into the bottom of the seventh. Matt Ray walked to lead off the inning and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt. Cody Crowell (1-1) struck out Rawley Bishop for the second out, before Grant Box came through with a RBI double down the left field line. They added two insurance runs in the eighth on a double by Ray to make it 11-8.
“They hit some hard hit balls and every time we tried to score some runs and comeback we couldn’t stop them, it was frustrating,” said Vanderbilt head coach Tim Corbin.
Dominic de la Osa’s two-run homer in the top of the first staked the Commodores to an early 2-0 lead. It was his ninth homer of the year, tying his single season career high set last year.
The lead didn’t last long as Wayne Kendrick hit a two-run homer of his own in the bottom half to tie the game at 2-2.
The Blue Raiders took a 3-2 lead in the bottom of the second when Myles Ervin tripled to lead off the inning and scored on a sacrifice fly by Zach Barrett.
VU rallied back to tie the game in the top of the third on Shea Robin’s sacrifice fly RBI that scored Alex Feinberg who singled and advanced to third on two wild pitches by MTSU starter Chad Coley.
The Blue Raiders continued to score with two runs in the bottom half to take a 5-3 lead. Matt Ray led off with a single and stole second before scoring on Wayne Kendrick’s RBI double to right. Kendrick later scored on a fly ball by Grant Box that dropped into left field as Matt Meingasner lost the ball in the sky.
The Commodores tied the game with two runs in the fifth courtesy of a RBI single by Alex Feinberg and a RBI double by Shea Robin. Brian Harris was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by David Macias. Alex Feinberg then brought him home with a RBI single through the left side. Dominic de la Osa walked and then both runners advanced on a wild pitch before Shea Robin tied the game with a RBI double to right-center. De la Osa also tried to score on the hit but was thrown out at the plate.
MTSU went back on top with a three-run bottom of the fifth. Matt Ray singled and stole second to lead off the inning and then scored on a RBI double by Wayne Kendrick. Rawley Bishop then tripled to right center to score Kendrick and end VU starter Ty Davis’ night. Grant Box hit a sacrifice fly to right off of Cody Crowell to give the Blue Raiders an 8-5 lead.
Vanderbilt answered again with three runs of its own in the top of the sixth to tie the game at 8-8. Meingasner led off with an infield single and Flaherty walked before Brad French sacrificed both runners over on a bunt. Brian Harris then singled to right to bring home Meingasner. David Macias lined a double over the centerfielder’s head to score Flaherty and Alex Feinberg lined a sacrifice fly to center to plate Harris to tie the game.
Feinberg was the lone Commodore with more than one hit as he finished with three on the night with two RBI.
Crowell was charged with the loss after giving up one run on 2.1 innings with two strikeouts and two walks. Ty Davis gave up eight earned runs on 4.1 innings with three strikeouts and a walk in the start.
The Commodores will return home to start a seven game homestand this weekend as Tennessee comes in for a three game series. Gametimes are set at 7 p.m. on Friday, 6 p.m. on Saturday and 1 p.m. on Sunday. Saturday’s contest will be televised regionally on CSS.
Vanderbilt 201 230 000 – 8 10 2
Middle Tennessee 212 300 12x -11 11 1
Davis, Crowell (5), Zeid (7), Christiani (8), Betourne (8) and Giobbi. Coley, Smalley (4), Marrs (6), Horseman (6), Reilley (8) and Robertson. W- Horseman 2-1, L- Crowell 1-1. Sv- Reilley (3). HR- VU: de la Osa (9). MTSU: Kendrick (3)
