KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Vanderbilt received three-run home runs from sophomores Matt Hogan and Dominic Keegan and the pitching staff kept Oklahoma State off the board across the first 10 innings as part of a 12-7, 16-inning victory Saturday at the Kansas City Royals Urban Youth Academy.
After being held scoreless through five frames, the Commodores broke through in the sixth as Hogan (2-for-6) swatted an opposite field three-run homer, cashing in after Keegan (4-for-8) reached on a single and freshman Parker Noland (2-for-6, 4 RBIs) worked the free pass.
Redshirt freshman right-hander Luke Murphy escaped a bases-loaded jam in the seventh, striking out consecutive batters in the top half before Keegan clocked a three-run homer over the batter’s eye, stretching the Vanderbilt lead to 6-0 in the home half.
The Commodores batted .302 (19-for-63) on the afternoon including working 15 walks to highlight a .430 on-base percentage. Vanderbilt pitching posted a 2.25 ERA, striking out 19 while limiting the Cowboys to a .194 average with runners aboard.
Right-hander Tyler Brown picked up three quick outs while adding a punchout in the eighth before the Commodores pushed across three more including an opposite field solo homer from sophomore Jayson Gonzalez and two-run, RBI-single courtesy of Parker Noland for a 9-0 advantage.
Vanderbilt sophomore starter Kumar Rocker struck out three while allowing one hit in two scoreless innings. Junior southpaw Jake Eder tallied four punchouts and permitting one hit in two scoreless and right-handed sophomore Chance Huff added a strikeout and one hit in a pair of scoreless innings.
The Commodores added two runs in the 11th inning, helped by a Noland RBI-groundout. Four innings later, the Knoxville, Tennessee, native added a sacrifice fly to cap his impressive debut. On the mound, right-hander Jake Leiter struck out four batters in two scoreless innings.
Vanderbilt returns to action in a national championship rematch as part of the David Williams Fall Classic on Nov. 10 against Michigan from Hawkins Field. The first pitch is scheduled for 10 a.m. and admission is free.
