KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Vanderbilt scored in eight of nine innings on Sunday rallying by Tennessee to claim the series with a 12-6 win at Lindsey Nelson Stadium.
The Commodores (23-24, 11-13) and Volunteers (23-24, 8-16) battled back-and-forth through the first three innings with both teams scoring one run in each inning until the Vols broke through with four in the third to take the lead. The Dores jumped on the comeback trail in the fifth when Connor Harrell knocked in Conrad Gregor with a double. Two more runs came across in the sixth led by Tony Kemp’s RBI-triple and his gutsy base running. With the infield in and Kemp on third, Gomez hit a ground ball at Tennessee third baseman Zach Luther but when Luther threw the ball to first base Kemp took off for home apparently beating the throw but the umpire ruled Kemp had not touched the plate nor been tagged out. So Kemp alertly dove back to home plate to score the run and cut the UT lead to 6-5.
Vanderbilt took the lead for good in the seventh scoring three runs with Kemp driving in a run on a fielder’s choice and Anthony Gomez knocking in another with a two-out single. Harrell led off the eighth with his second solo home run of the weekend and the Dores put the game away in the ninth with two more runs as Harrell singled in a run and Vince Conde’s double scored Harrell.
Vanderbilt put the leadoff man on base in eight of the nine innings scoring in each inning. Gregor and Harrell each had three hits and solo home runs to pace Vandy’s 13-hit attack. Kemp drove in three runs and tied the Ryan Klosterman’s school record with eight triples on the season, picking up two in the win. Gomez and Conde each had two RBI with Gomez collecting two singles. Davis Morgan had two hits for Tennessee with Drew Steckenrider driving in two runs.
For the second straight day the Vanderbilt bullpen rode to the rescue this time with Sam Selman (7-3) turning in 4.2 stellar innings to earn the win. Selman entered in the third inning when the Vols scored four runs to take the lead. The lefty, however, did not allow another run the rest of the way striking out three before handing the ball over to Will Clinard, who worked two scoreless innings for his second save in as many days. The VU bullpen combined to pitch 13 innings on Saturday and Sunday earning the win on both days. Steckenrider (4-5) took the loss giving up six runs, three earned, on four hits over 3.1 innings.
The win clinched Vanderbilt’s first road series victory of the season.
The Commodores return to action Tuesday night at Hawkins Field for the final non-conference game of the season when Louisville visits Nashville for a 6:30 p.m. first pitch.
